Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Don't Ever Forget
by SpaRkofFiRe
Summary: As he opened his eyes, he heard the gentle crashing of the waves. He had no memories, had no idea where he was, or who he even is. The only thing he knows, is that he sees a concerned Pokemon running towards him. (A rewrite of the game's plot, with a variety of added plot points.) (On an indefinite hiatus.)
1. Chapter 1 - The Next Beginning

_Author's Note: A rewrite/novelization of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky plot. There are still some elements from the original, but there are also quite a bit of added elements. It's probably also a really clichéd sci-fi plot, (seriously, like REALLY clich_ _é_ _d, I'm just doing this for fun) so look out for that. And this is my first take at Pokemon, so the battles probably won't be too great. So, if you have any criticism, please, tell me in the reviews. Also, if there is a long delay between chapters, I sincerely apologize; there would be a lot going on in my personal life that would be preventing me from writing. Pfft. Stupid real life. Right, enough rambling, let's get this crap started._

 **Edit: Hastily fixed some errors which reviewer, Celivy, generously pointed out!**

 **Chapter 1 - The Next Beginning**

He grabbed onto his partner's arm with all the power he could muster. Orbs of energy and light appeared around them. "I-it's slipping!" he yelled as he felt his hand quickly coming loose.

"Hold on! Just a little longer!" They could see the end of the tunnel already.

"Oh! No!" His hand even more quickly slipped off the other's arm, until one final bump forced him to let go as he fell out of the stream. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he yelled as he fell out of the side of the passage and his partner yelled back at him.

()()()()()

Riolu walked up to the intimidating Wigglytuff tent. He saw the fake eyes staring blankly at him. Drops of sweat started beading on his forehead. "I have to do this! Today's the day! Today I will finally work up the courage to join Wigglytuff's guild!" he muttered to himself. "So… I just stand on this grate right?" He timidly staggered onto the grate.

For a few moments, the only sounds were of the two torches beside him sizzling and cracking. Then suddenly, a high pitched and loud voice shouted "Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" another, even louder voice replied.

"The footprint is Riolu's! The footprint is Riolu's!"

 _Ah!_ He thought to himself, not wanting to let out his voice. _W-what is this?_ This is the first time Riolu tried to join the guild; he didn't know what to expect. He quickly stepped off the grate and picked up the rock he had as a necklace. It had an odd and peculiar pattern inscribed on it.

Riolu let out an ashamed sigh. "I'm such a coward. How can I expect to solve the mystery of this relic fragment if I can't even gather enough courage to join this guild?"

He sighed again and slouched down to the beach; he always took a stroll down there, especially during the sunset when all the Krabbys blew their bubbles out to the vast sea. But what he didn't notice, however, were two Pokemon floating right behind him.

"Hey, did you see that Koffing?"

"What, that dumb piece of junk? It just seems like a stupid rock."

"No, I saw some sort of pattern on it, I'm sure of it. No doubt it's really valuable."

"Should we go after it?"

"We should." The two Pokemon lingered behind Riolu, keeping a safe distance away from him.

As he was walking down the path, he noticed a shadowy figure staring at him. "H-hello? Who's there?" he asked cautiously. _Great, I just gave up on joining the guild, and now I'm going to get robbed on the same day,_ he thought to himself.

Before the mysterious silhouette could reply, another one swiftly pulled it into the bushes. Riolu was tempted to follow it in, but noticed all the Krabbys crawling onto the towering cliffs then blew their large bubbles out to the sea. Riolu looked back at the bush. It was completely still, except for the wind gently blowing the leaves. "Sigh, I was probably just imagining it. My mind is all over the place"

He continued walking to the beach when he noticed something laying at the beach. "Ah! Is that an… unconscious Pokemon?" He quickly scampered over to the Pokemon. "H-hello? Are you okay?" He reluctantly reached out to touch it when suddenly, it moved. "Oh! Thank Arceus you're okay!"

 _W-where am I?_ He thought.

"You were unconscious on the beach here! Are you injured?"

"I-I'm just a little sore." He replied.

"Oh, good." He sighed with relief. "So, what's your name?"

"My… name?" _How in the world have I forgotten my own name?_ He thought a little longer, until finally, he remembered.

"Um… it's Sparky." He replied. _Why did it take me so long to remember that?_

"Wow, that's a great name! It's fitting since you're a Cyndaquil!"

"Wait, what? I'm-" he looked down at his arms. "AHH!" All he saw was little yellow nubs. "I-I've turned into a Cyndaquil!"

"What?" Riolu was really confused. "You mean, you were another Pokemon before?"

"No, I was a human!" Sparky exclaimed

"What?" Riolu was starting to wonder whether this Pokemon was… sane.

"I-I could've sworn-" he was interrupted when he saw two Pokemon- a Koffing and a Zubat –bump into Riolu. The rock around his neck flew off and landed on the sand, kicking off a little dust.

"Woah, hey! Watch where you're going!" the Koffing raucously snorted.

"Yeah! You could really hurt someone!" the Zubat picked the rock off the sand.

"Hey! That's mine!" he yelled as he stood up.

"For bumping into us, I'm afraid we're going to have to take this!"

"Wha- you're the one that bumped into us!" They ignored him as they scampered off into the cave behind Riolu. "No! Th-they took my treasure!" He looked at Sparky with begging eyes. "Please! You need to help me get that back!"

"What? B-but I just found out I-"

"Look, I know you're really confused and all, but," tears started to well up on his eyes, "that's my ONLY treasure! It's really special to me!"

 _Well, I don't have anywhere to go anyway, I'm completely lost. I might as well go with this Pokemon. I may find some answers by coming with him anyways._ Hesitantly, he nodded his head.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" he turned to face the cave. "Let's go!" Sparky led the way into the dim cave. In it, Sparky found he was able to use his moves (albeit, very basic moves) with ease, and getting to the end of the cave wasn't that hard. When they arrived, they saw the two Pokemon trying to find a way out.

Riolu stepped ahead. "H-hey you!"

The two Pokemon jumped at the voice. "Huh?" Koffing snorted, "Oh, I didn't think someone like you would get this deep."

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Riolu was quite visibly shivering out of fear.

"Because, well, look at you! You're shaking like you're out naked in the snow!" Zubat scoffed, "You're scared of us? Just some petty thieves?"

"I-if you think I'm scared of you, then you've got another thing coming!"

"Hmph. So be it. I didn't want to do this, but you leave us no choice. We'll have to fight you!"

"Sparky," Riolu whispered, "Are you ready? This is going to be a hard fight!"

"Enough talking!" Koffing bellowed as he went for a tackle on Riolu. He tried to dodge, but was too slow, and was hit to the ground.

Sparky tried using his tackle, but Zubat used his leech life before he could hit anyone. Koffing used tackle on Sparky and he fell to the sandy ground.

"Ha! This was easier than I thought! I knew you wouldn't beat me!" Zubat laughed as he started to fly away.

"Yeah, both of you are pathetic." With that word, Riolu, with all his might, stood up, and threw the hardest karate chop he could muster on Koffing. The rock flew off his body and fell onto the ground.

"Who's pathetic now?! Huh?!" Riolu scoffed at him. He stumbled over to the rock and picked it up. When he was looking away, Zubat flew at him to try to attack, but was bombarded with Sparky's (who was still laying on the ground) embers and, him too, fell to the ground.

"Huh?" Riolu looked behind him. Both Koffing and Zubat were laying on the ground, moaning in pain. "Wow! You learned ember! Great job!" Sparky grinned back to thank him. "C'mon let's get out of here."

()()()()()

Outside the cave, it was already almost nighttime. "Woah, Sparky! Look at you! You're all bruised!" Sparky looked down to see all his bruises from the battle. "Wow, that was an intense battle! You were awesome!"

 _Yeah, I guess I was kind of cool._ He thought. He let out a small ember. _How did this happen? How did I turn into a fire-breathing Pokemon? It makes no sense._

"Hey, Sparky." Riolu said, "Um, I've been thinking about this, and, um… you… make me feel brave."

 _Huh?_

"Back in that cave, if I was alone, I never would have been able to do that. Without you there, by my side, I don't think I'd be able to do these amazing things… so…" Sparky was watching Riolu. His eyes were closed, as if he was trying to think of how to say the next sentence. "Will you… form an exploration team with me?"

"A… what?"

"An exploration team! They're really cool Pokemon who venture into the unknown, and find so many cool treasures! Like this!" Riolu grabbed the rock from his necklace. "I found this on the ground one day. See this weird pattern?"

Sparky looked down at the pattern. _He's right. That pattern… I can't describe it… it just looks… odd._

"I call it a relic fragment. If - oh sorry - WHEN I form an exploration team, my ultimate goal will be to solve the mystery of this relic fragment. But… I was never able to work up the courage to join! So… Will you join me in making an exploration team?"

 _I-I don't know! It's all happening so fast!_ Sparky thought. _But I suppose I DO have nowhere to go, so I suppose this is my best option for now._ He nodded his head in agreement.

"Yes! Thank you! Oh, we're gonna form the best exploration team in the world! Let's go! To Wigglytuff's Guild!" They both swiftly ran off the beach, and ran as quickly as they could, to Wigglytuff's Guild.

As they were walking on the crossroads, and passed the intersection, the same shadowy figure Riolu saw before lingered behind, looking straight at the pair of them, then quickly ran to the west.

 **A/N So, for the first pokemon battle I ever wrote, that was pretty good, right? Right? Please tell me I'm right. Oh well. If you have any criticism, leave it in the reviews, it's greatly appreciated. :)**


	2. Chapter 2 - Wigglytuff's Guild

**Chapter 2 - Wigglytuff's Guild**

 **A/N Now that I have an actual review, I really feel the need to inform you that the plot I planned out is REALLY REALLY clich** _ **éd.**_ **I'll give you three guesses as to who that shadowy figure is and I guarantee you'll probably guess it. Seriously. Anyway, enough self-deprecation, let's do this. Oh, and I JUST started playing the aftergame of Explorers of Sky, and I just found out that (spoilers) (seriously this is a really big spoiler) that it was Darkrai that caused the planet's paralysis, so just so you know, I diverted onto a much dumber, more cliché route. Like REALLY, REALLY cliché- ok you get the idea.**

The pair walked up to the flimsy looking tent. The pieces of cloth were violently flapping in the wind. The torches beside them popped and cracked as they emitted a golden glow on the landscape.

"Alright, this is it." Riolu said, shivering with nervousness. "We just need to stand on that grate." Riolu hesitated, but nervously stepped on to the weathered grate.

A few seconds of torturous silence prevailed, when suddenly the same high pitched voice shouted "Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" The other, louder voice replied.

"The footprint is Riolu's! The footprint is Riolu's!"

 _Ah!_ He thought. But he stood his ground. _No! I have to do this! I am finally going to form an exploration team!_

"He seems fine," the loud voice erupted, "let him in!"

 _Yes! Finally! I'm finally going to form an exploration team!_ Riolu eagerly thought.

"There's someone else with you! Get him to stand on the grate!" Riolu quickly staggered off while Sparky took his place.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" The voice needlessly repeated.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is Cyndaquil's! The footprint is Cynadaquil's!" The voice had a tentative tone to it, as if this was an unusual Pokémon to show up.

"Hmm, they seem fine! Let them in!"

The gate at the door made a screeching creak as it opened. Riolu looked back at Sparky. "We did it! We can actually make an exploration team! Let's go!" The pair climbed down as fast as they could down the flimsy kegs down into the cliff.

When they arrived, it was surprisingly bright, and was filled with lively Pokémon looking at some bulletin boards. Everyone seemed to be exhausted from their full day of work.

"Ah, hello!" A bright Chatot walked over to them.

"Oh, hi!" Riolu replied. "We would like to form an exploration team, please!"

"An exploration team? A-are you sure?" He stammered. He thought of the many Pokémon who gave up on the first day upon joining.

"What? Of course! That's why we came here in the first place!"

"Hmm, alright. Come with me." The Chatot climbed down into the next floor. The pair looked at each other, smiled, and quickly ran down the ladder. "In here!" The Chatot was waving to them from a large door.

Inside was a large pink Pokémon, who presumably was Wigglytuff. He was facing away from the group.

"Erm, guildmaster?" Chatot cautiously said.

There was a long silence. Then, quickly, Wigglytuff spun around. "Oh! Hiya! Friendly friends!"

"These two fine Pokémon would like to form an exploration team!"

"Oh! Is that so? Then let's get started then! What will your team's name be?"

"Um… my team's name?" Riolu asked, having never thought about something like this.

"Yup!" the carefree Pokémon grinned, "Every exploration team needs a name!"

"Hmm…" Riolu rubbed his hand on his chin. "What do you think, Sparky?"

"Um," he thought for a few seconds, "how about Pokepals?"

"Wow, that's a great name! Thanks!" Riolu turned to the pink Pokémon. "Team Pokepals!"

"Ah!" he smiled at such an enthusiastic name, "That is a great name! It really brings out the friendship between you two! Alright! Team Pokepals is now an official exploration team! YOOM TAH!" A bright white flash waved through the room. "Now that you are an official exploration team, I will reward you with this treasure bag!" He brought a brown bag with a handle and a button and handed it to Riolu. Inside it was the official exploration team badge, which proves that the two of them were exploration teams and could amazingly teleport anyone who needed help back to safety; a "treasure map", which showed all the discovered parts of the world; and a sky blue bow, which greatly improves any Pokémon who holds it in a dungeon.

"Wow! There's so many things in here!" Riolu said, amazed by all the things that were in the seemingly bottomless bag.

"Good luck on your adventures as a new, official exploration team!"

"Thanks!" Riolu replied with a distinct blush on his cheeks.

"Here, let me show you to your rooms!" The pair followed Chatot as he led them to their rooms. "Here's where you'll be sleeping every night." Moonlight glowed through the small window. It was small and cramped, and had two hay piles which were presumably their beds. "You'll need to get to sleep early. You have a long day tomorrow!" Chatot left them as they tried to get comfortable on the scratchy hay beds.

"Wow, can you believe it?" Riolu whispered quietly, knowing there were other Pokémon sleeping in the nearby rooms. "We actually formed an exploration team!" Riolu took out his Relic Fragment. "Just think, later, we'll finally solve the mystery of my Relic Fragment!" He stared intently down at the odd pattern inscribed on the small rock. "And maybe we'll even find out who you were before, and how you lost your memory!"

 _He's right,_ Sparky thought. _If I stay in this exploration team, then maybe I'll find out who I was before! Exploration teams specialize in solving mysteries, right? Well, I'd better get some sleep. It's a long day tomorrow._ He emptied his mind as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

()()()()()

The next morning, the team was woken up by the loudest voice they had heard in their entire lives. " **Hey! It's morning! Get out of bed! You're going to be late for the morning seminar!** " Their ears rung and their vision slowly clarified to reveal a Loudred screaming at the top of his lungs. " **C'mon! You're going to make me late too!** " He swiftly ran out of the room.

"Urk, what an alarm clock, am I right, Sparky?" Riolu shook as he stood up. "Wait! We're late! C'mon Sparky, we need to go!" In an instant he jumped and pulled Sparky out of bed.

Out the hall, all the Pokémon in the guild were gathered around.

"You're late! Extremely late! We almost did our morning pep without you!" Chatot fumed at the team. "Alright, everyone! Let's begin!"

"One! Don't shirk work!" The whole guild chanted the words. "Two! Run away and pay! Three! Smiles go for miles!"

"Alright, Pokémon! We have a new exploration team joining us today!" Chatot yelled. "They're called Team Pokepals! Please, step up!" The newly formed team stepped up in front of the group. "Introduce yourselves."

"Um, hi," Riolu nervously stammered, "I'm Riolu, and this is Sparky." They both awkwardly waved at the group. The guild whispered and murmured.

"Eek! They are so cute!" They heard one say.

"Heh, those rookies are going to quit at the end of the day, I guarantee!" Another one said.

 _Real encouraging,_ Sparky thought.

"Alright, Pokémon! Get to work!"

"Hurray!" The guild cleared out and everyone walked off to their jobs.

"Ah, you too!" Chatot called the pair over. "Let me show you your job for today! Follow me." They climbed down the ladder. "Now, I assume, you've had at least SOME experience in exploration, am I right?"

"Well, we did stop some nasty crooks who stole my treasure in Beach Cave."

"Ah, jolly good then, you seem more than ready to jump into work. Now, where is that pesky Pokémon…?" He peered around the room when finally, he yelled "Ah, Bidoof!"

"Erm, yes?" He had a certain stereotypical "hillbilly" accent.

"Would you mind showing these two around Treasure Town and the Outlaw Bulletin Boards? I'm very busy and I don't have time for this."

"Yup yup! Will do!" Chatot nodded as he stepped down the ladder. "Alright, I reckon we should wander about Treasure Town, and get prepared, yup yup!" There was a tone of superiority in his voice. He was obviously also new in the guild.

"Alright! Let's go!" The group walked down the crossroads and almost turned towards Treasure Town, when Riolu stopped on his tracks. He thought he saw something. The same mysterious silhouette he saw last evening dashed past him, paused, stared straight at him, then dove into the bushes.

"Hmm, something wrong?" Bidoof looked back at Riolu.

"Um, no I… just thought I saw something." He said as he started walking again, still looking behind himself.

"Alright, so this is Treasure Town."

"Oh, I can show you around this place!" Riolu said, enthusiastically. He pointed to all the various shops and bazaars around the town and observed the wares the Kecleon Brothers had on stock.

"Well, when you've finished getting prepared, I'll meet you back at the guild."

"Alright!" Riolu replied. As they were seeing the wares, a little Marill and Azurill walked up to the shop.

"Mr. Kecleons, we would like to buy one apple, please!"

"Oh, little Marill and Azurill! We'll gladly sell the apple to you!" They gave Azurill an apple in exchange for the coins.

"Oh, thank you Mr. Kecleons, you are so nice to us!" Azurill gratefully said.

"Yes, even when we are in such a dire situation!" Marill said delightedly.

"Oh we can't deny such sweet children's requests! That would just be unethical!"

The two Pokemon bowed and swiftly ran off, but Azurill tripped and dropped its apple. Sparky picked it up as it rolled to him. He gave it back to Azurill. "Thank you sir." The Azurill quickly trailed behind his big brother. Suddenly, Sparky started to get dizzy and lightheaded. The world around him was getting darker.

"You see, their poor mother is sick, so those two have to take care of her by themselves. Such sweet and responsible little kids."

Suddenly, his dizzy spell grew more intense, until he heard a loud screech and a bright, white color flashed in his eyelids. It was pitch black and silent. Then suddenly, he heard a voice that sounded like Azurill's shouting "H-h-help!"

The white flash returned, and finally, Sparky returned back to reality. _What in the world was that?_ Sparky thought. _D-did that shout…_ He looked out towards the little Azurill, who was still following his brother, _come from you?_

"Hey Sparky," Riolu said, "What's wrong? You just zoned out! Are you alright?"

"Um… yeah. Did you… just hear something?" Sparky said, still worried about his daydream.

"Huh? Nothing unusual. How about you two?"

"Hm, no, I haven't heard anything."

"Heh, it must be in your imagination! C'mon, let's get back to the guild, Bidoof must be waiting." Riolu started walking. "Thanks Kecleon!"

 _Hmm… I could have sworn I heard Azurill call for help._ He thought.

As they were walking back to the guild, they saw the two brothers talking to a Drowsee.

"Hey, I've found a Water Float," the Drowsee said, with quite an obvious malicious grin on his face.

"Wow, really?" the brothers said.

Riolu walked up to them. "Hey what's going on?"

"This nice Pokemon right here said he found our missing Water Float!" Marill said.

"Yup, I found it on top of Mt. Bristle. I'm surprised no one took it yet! I can take you to it if you want."

"Oh, thanks!" they said, amazed at how generous the Pokemon in front of them is being.

"Let's go!" He said.

"Alright!"

As he was walking, he accidentally bumped into Sparky. "Whoops! Sorry 'bout that!" he said, quickly walking off, noticing the suspicious look on his face.

"Wow, what a nice guy, he's doing so much for those two!" Riolu said.

"But don't you think-" he was interrupted by another dizzy spell. The world spun around him and darkened, when finally, a bright flash of white took over his vision, and was, this time, met with a scene with Drowsee and Azurill on the mountain.

"If you don't listen to me," Drowsee malevolently snarled, "then there's going to be big trouble for you."

Azurill looked around, and saw they were alone, then helplessly cried out, "H-h-help!"

The white flash returned, and he was pulled back into reality.

"Sparky? Sparky!" Riolu called out.

"H-huh?" He stammered, trying to familiarize himself with his surroundings.

"What's gotten into you? You keep zoning out!" Riolu said anxiously.

"I-I just saw a vision with Drowsee about to hurt Azurill!" He said, distressed, "We have to go help!"

"A-are you sure?" he said, looking at the Drowsee, who was still walking with the two boys. "I-I don't know. He seems like a really nice Pokemon! Maybe we should go back to the guild." He started walking back.

 _No, that seemed too real!_ Sparky thought back. Every detail in the vision seemed to be pitch perfect, from the tiniest pebble, to the Pokemon's voices. _But maybe it is just my imagination acting up._

When they got back to the guild, Bidoof was waiting for them.

"Alright, are you ready?" he asked.

"Yep, all set!"

"Now let's see… someone easy…" he said, scanning all the E and D ranked missions.

Suddenly, Riolu started shivering, as if he just saw the most distressing image in his entire life. "S-Sparky! Look!" He pointed to a particularly large mugshot of Drowsee, whose description met the Drowsee they met in Treasure Town. "A-Azurill's in trouble! Quick we've gotta help!" He grabbed Sparky's arm and pulled him up the shaky, wooden kegs.

"H-hey, wait!" Bidoof yelled.

They ran down the path, all the way down to the intersection when they saw Marill standing alone.

"Marill! What's wrong?" Riolu asked, with tons of distress in his voice.

"I-I was just walking towards Mt. Bristle, until when I looked back, Drowsee and Azurill were gone! I-I'm really scared!"

"Don't worry, Marill! We'll catch that Drowsee, I promise! C'mon, Sparky!" He pulled Sparky as he sprinted as fast as he could down the dusty, dirt path, not even noticing that same shadowy silhouette he saw before was staring straight at them, and stepped forward to follow them, but instead dove back into the bushes.

 **Wow, this was a long chapter. And yes, I did skip the parts of the game that were really just familiarizing you with the game's mechanics. Anyway, drop a review if you want to, it's really appreciated. :)**


	3. Chapter 3 - Mt Bristle

**Chapter 3 - Mt. Bristle**

The team quickly ran up to the foot of the mountain. There was a rocky path in front of them that would take them to the peak, which presumably was where Drowzee took Azurill.

"Alright, Sparky," Riolu said, distressed, "if we wanna catch up with Drowzee, we need to really hurry. Got it?"

Sparky nodded in agreement and started following Riolu down the boulder-ridden path. They looked up at the peak, which was nearly invisible as it rose above the clouds. _We're coming, Azurill,_ he thought. Among the heaps of pesky thieves and Pokemon that the team practically stomped on, was one raggedy bridge that looked like it could collapse at the slightest touch. The ropes were so thin, the slightest bit of pressure could snap it as the unfortunate (and unwitting) soul who treaded foot on it would fall into the black abyss below.

"Woah, Sparky!" Said Riolu, nearly shivering as he looked down into the empty void. "I think we should look for another way around." He threw a tiny pebble on the bridge, and, as if on cue, the whole bridge collapsed and the faint sounds of the planks and debris slamming onto the ground could be heard. "Yup… Let's go." They turned to the right and deviated off the path.

As they were walking, Sparky noticed a rock that looked identical to a rock he saw five minutes ago. "Um, I think we're lost." He said, stopping in his tracks.

"Yeah… hmm… If only there was some way we could tell where we're going…" He rubbed his chin as he looked around. "Hey, look!" He pointed up at a little plateau. "Maybe if we climb up there, we could get a view of everything!"

"Alright." _Riolu's really taking charge here,_ he thought. _Maybe it's because it's his first exploration._

They clambered up the steep plateau, sending small pebbles down the large precipice. When they finally climbed to the top, they nearly saw the whole landscape, including the large central mountain and the snowy peak. "Sparky, look!" Riolu pointed to a small, narrow path that lead up all the way to the peak. "It may not be the safest way, but it leads all the way up to the peak. C'mon!"

 _Wow, Riolu has a really keen eye! I never would have seen that in a million years!_ He looked up at the peak. It still rose high above them.

They carefully walked along the narrow, rocky path. Hundreds of meters below them were many large boulders, and a small creek, whose gurgling water could be heard faintly from where the team was.

Suddenly, they heard distinct voices, ones that sounded like Drowzee and Azurill. "Do you hear that, Sparky?" said Riolu, who lifted his floppy ears to try to hear where the quiet noises were coming from. "There!" He pointed to a dark cave. They ran over and finally, they saw Drowzee and Azurill. It looked as if they were arguing.

"Look," Drowzee said, "rumor has it that there's a trove of treasures inside there!" He pointed to a small hole, one that only Azurill could fit in. "I'm too large to fit in there, so I need you to go in there and give me the treasures!"

"B-but," Azurill's voice was scared and hopeless, he knew he couldn't run.

"No buts! Just do it!" His voice has grown noticeably more hostile. "If you don't listen to me, then there's going to be big trouble for you."

"H-h-help!" He yelled in terror.

 _Hey, that's what they said in my vision!_ Sparky thought as he ran up to them.

"H-hey, you!" Riolu yelled, visibly shaken as he stumbled over to confront Drowzee.

"Oh, look who it is, it's these two clods!" he said.

"We will never let you hurt Azurill!" He started shivering from fear.

"Oh no, I'm so scared!" He said sarcastically, noticing Riolu visibly shaking. "Seriously, do you really think you could beat me?"

He was obviously trying to provoke them. "To save Azurill, I could do anything," he said, preparing himself physically and mentally for the oncoming battle.

"Hm. Fine," he said. Suddenly, his eyes glowed a light blue as he used Psychic to lift the two Pokemon up.

"Ah! Sparky, what do we do?" Riolu said, distressed as he was lifted high into the air. Then, in an instant, they were swiftly thrown to the ground, kicking a cloud of dust in the air. Drowzee's eyes started glowing blue again as he prepared for another psychic. Sparky could feel himself getting lighter on his feet, as he was dreading the pain which he felt when he gets slammed to the ground.

 _There has to be some way to stop this Psychic!_ He thought as he was thrown to the rocky ground. _I-if his Psychic is really, well, psychic,_ he thought, believing he found a solid line of reasoning, _then maybe if we confuse him, his Psychic would miss!_ He turned to Riolu to tell him his plan.

"Hey, that's really smart! So when his eyes start glowing, let's run around him! That should confuse him!" he said, talking quickly as he knew Drowzee was preparing for his next attack. Once his eyes started glowing again, the team swiftly stumbled around him (as they were already weak from the two Psychics), both in opposite directions.

"Wh-huh?" Drowzee was pulled out of his Psychic state while he desperately tried to focus on at least one Pokemon. After a few seconds, when Drowzee got dizzy, they both finally got close enough to attack; Riolu with a Karate Chop, and Sparky with an Ember. With those two attacks, Drowzee fell to the ground, and he had black swirls in his eyes, indicating that he has fainted.

"Hey, Azurill, we're here to save you!" Said Riolu, with both a relieved and reassuring voice. "C'mon, lets get back to the guild."

"Th-thank you!" he stammered.

()()()()()

Back at the guild, the team was with Officer Magnezone and Magnemites. "Good job on apprehending Drowzee! His relentless Psychic has always enabled him to evade capture! Good job on outsmarting him!" They gave them their rewards which consisted of… 6,000 Pokè?

"Wow, you're really giving us this much money?" Asked Riolu, his eyes sparkling at the large sum of money.

"Of course! We've been searching for this criminal for months! It was you that finally captured him!" He started to hand the bag over to the team.

"Nope!" Said Chatot as he flew in to grab the bag.

"What?"

"You'll get… This much." He threw a few coins down to the team. So really, the team received… 600 Pokè?!

"What? We're only getting a tenth of everything? But we did most of the work…"

"That's your duty of joining the guild! You work and and earn tons of money for the guild!"

Riolu sighed "Well, at least we earned some money." He looked down at the few coins he had earned from his adventure.

()()()()()

The team slowly slouched into their rooms as they tried to get comfortable on their hay beds. They could hear the rain tapping on the window. A full moon shined through the storm clouds as the dim rays of moonlight flooded into the room.

"Wow, it's pouring outside!" Suddenly, a bright lightning and loud thunder made the team jump. He sighed. "It's a shame that we didn't earn all the money from the mission," he said, "but at least we got to save Azurill! And…" His voice slowly grew more ashamed. "You saw this in your vision, and… I didn't believe you, and because of that, Azurill almost got hurt..." He looked down, hoping Sparky would forgive him. "I guess from now on, I'll have to trust you!" He said, seemingly looking at Sparky with wonder and admiration. "But… I wonder, how did you see that in your vision? You actually saw the future in your vision!"

 _He's right,_ Sparky thought, reminiscing back to his vision, and what he really saw happen, _Every detail in the vision seemed to match what happened in real life perfectly!_

"And I wonder…" Riolu whispered, "if your visions are related to how you turned into a Pokemon and lost your memory." Riolu felt his eyelids slowly getting heavier. "Well, it's not going to help us sleep if we keep thinking about it." He yawned. "Good night, Sparky." And seemingly in an instant, they had fallen into a deep slumber.

()()()()()

In a dense forest, the full moon shined a blue light on the blades of grass and the dark leaves. The wind slowly pushed the leaves back and forth, and they seemingly danced in the moonlight. The peaceful atmosphere, though, was suddenly cut off when a shadowy silhouette dashed past, waving a few blades of grass. When finally, the silhouette arrived at a glowing area, seeming to be lit by a cog-like object.

"There it is!" The Pokemon whispered. "The Time Gear! Finally! I've waited far too long for this! I've suffered many heart-wrenching losses, but it'll all be worth it when this is finally over!" Quickly, the figure looked around, then swiftly took the mystical-looking gear off its pedestal, and it made a painful groaning sound throughout the whole forest. As the Pokemon fled out of the forest, a flash of lightning revealed the figure as a green, intimidating Pokemon. He had large claws, and leaves growing from his forearms; and had a determined look on his face. "Just a little longer."

 **Well, I feel like that battle was way better than the first, since it just seems more exciting and more clever, but I don't actually know how to write Pokemon battles in a novel format, so if you have tips, leave a review. :)**


	4. Chapter 4 - Waterfall Cave (DOUBLE EDIT)

**Chapter 4 - Waterfall Cave**

 **A/N: Sorry for the massive delay. It was Christmas and I was spending time with family. So, first chapter of 2016! I hope everyone reading this will have a fantastic new year!**

 **EDIT: M** **ade Riolu realize that Sparky's vision was always activated when he touches something.**

 **EDIT: Added a second thought to an author's note.**

"WAKE UP! C'MON! IT'S ANOTHER DAY AND YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE! C'MON!" The voice of the Loudred bellowed through the room. The voice gained all of the guild's attention who were waiting outside. Loudred left the room as he groaned under his breath.

"Ugh," Riolu muttered, "I'm still not used to waking up to that horrible voice." He shivered as he stood up and stretched his arms out and yawned. "Let's go Sparky!" He pulled him out of bed and stumbled through the dim corridor out to the open room, where everyone was waiting.

Chatot sighed. "It's about time you've woken up! I do hope this won't be a daily routine for you two. Alright everyone! Let's do our morning cheer!"

As the guild loudly cheered their morning pep, Sparky still thought about the last eventful day. _How DID I see the future? And… is it related to who I was before, and how I lost my memory?_

"Three! Smiles go for miles!" the guild finally finished their cheer. The loud guild instantly woke the team up from their drowsiness.

"Alright Pokemon! I have an announcement!" The guild whispered and murmured at what he would potentially announce to everyone. "Alright, settle down! In a couple days, we will be going on an expedition!"

The guild whooped and cheered at that word. "Um, what's an expedition?" Riolu asked the guild member beside him.

She gasped. "Wow, you don't know? An expedition is when the guild goes on a big exploration of somewhere that's really mysterious! Eek! It's so exciting!"

Riolu turned to Sparky. "Wow Sparky, isn't that amazing?"

"We will be traveling to a place called Fogbound Lake! Remember, not everyone will be chosen to go, so work really hard to be chosen! Alright everyone! It's another day of work! Don't let the guild down!"

"Hurray!" The guild finally cheered and everyone cleared out of the room to get to their jobs.

"Ah, you two!" Chatot called the team over. "I'd like you to explore an unknown place today."

"Wow, really?" Riolu eyes sparkled as he heard the words. "It's our first real exploration, Sparky!"

"That's right! Today, I would like you to go explore a mysterious waterfall! Legend has it that it has a secret place, hidden somewhere around it. No one has ever found it yet. I would like you to find it!" The team listened, astonished that Chatot is assigning them a seemingly extremely difficult mission on their second day. "It'll be a very nice test to see if you could really make it as an exploration team! And who knows? If you do well, you may even be chosen for the expedition, even if you're still rookies!"

"Wow, really?" Riolu asked, thinking how the rest of the guild would react if they were chosen, "Alright then Sparky, let's work our hardest to get chosen for the expedition!"

()()()()()

The pair walked up to the gargantuan waterfall. It spewed forth a large cloud of mist as the water crashed onto the lake. The mist beaded on the team's bodies. The sound of the water crashing on the ground rung through the air, and the team's ears rung at the boisterous clangor. "Wow!" Riolu yelled, trying to make his voice heard over the water crashing on the lake, "The water's really coming down!" The team peered around them, attempting to see through the thick shroud of mist. "Well, I don't see anything obvious. I wonder where this 'secretive' thing is." He looked ahead at the waterfall. Unwittingly, Riolu attempted to touch the pounding waterfall. Instantly, he was thrown back as the water battered on his arm. "Ow ow ow!" He looked down at his small bruise. Sparky ran over to assure himself he wasn't hurt. "Well, I don't see anything remarkable here," he winced in pain.

Sparky succumbed to the urge of curiosity, and he reluctantly reached out to touch the waterfall. Unsurprisingly, he too was thrown back as he clutched his wound. "Sparky!" Riolu ran over to his aid. "Are you alright?" Suddenly, the world around him grew dimmer. _Wait. It's happening again. I'm… Going to have another vision!_ Suddenly, his vision was filled with a bright white flash and he was met with a vision of the waterfall, with a familiar looking silhouette standing in front of it. It looked around, then swiftly dashed into the waterfall, and surprisingly, it emerged through it unscathed, and into a dark cave. It looked around, and it quickly ran deeper into the cave. The blinding white flash returned, and he was pulled back to the present, where Riolu was looking at him, concerned that he had zoned out.

"Sparky! Are you ok? You zoned out again! Did… you have another vision?" Sparky nodded. "Wow! What did you see? Maybe you saw something useful!" Sparky told him of his vision. "Wow, really?" He looked at the waterfall. "Is there really a cave through there? Maybe the cave isn't there yet, since you saw the future!" Sparky looked at the intimidating waterfall. He had to admit he had his doubts. _Once again,_ he thought, _everything in the vision seemed too real! But…_ he looked at the huge waterfall, imagining what it would feel like if there was just solid rock through there, and if they jumped straight into it. But ultimately, he decided to jump in. _Though it may be a stupid idea,_ _it's our best shot at finding anything here,_ he thought.

"Ok," Riolu muttered under his breath, "if there's just rock through there, it's gonna really hurt…" He started shivering in fear, but he stood his ground. "No! Last night I promised I'd trust you, Sparky, and I'm not going to break that promise!" He looked at Sparky. "Ok… We'll do this together. Alright?" Sparky nodded. "3… 2… 1!" The team made a running start and jumped into the humongous waterfall. "AAAAAAHHH!" Riolu screamed both in pain and fear as his whole body was pounded by the water.

And, just like in the vision, the team landed in a cave, illuminated only by the sunlight outside. "Oh, ow!" Riolu muttered, his whole body in pain. He looked around. "Hey, Sparky look! You were right!" Sparky peered around the cave.

 _Wow… Everything here matches what was in my vision perfectly! Just like the last one…_ he thought.

"Cmon, Sparky! Let's see what's at the end of this place!" Riolu pulled himself up and they walked into the depths of the dark cave. Once again, the many Pokemon in the cave were mere petty thieves and the team obliterated them. Finally, the team walked into an opening, filled with a variety of crystals and gems, which were reflecting some light to illuminate the whole cave with a barrage of different colors. "Wow!" Riolu's eyes sparkled in amazement. "Look at all these gems! I didn't know there could be so many in one place!" He looked around, then gasped in astonishment. "Woah! Look at that huge gem!" He pointed to a large, pink gem that rose meters into the air. "Wow! Look at the size of that! Wait until everyone at the guild sees this!" He pulled at the huge gem, but it didn't even slightly budge. "Ah! I… can't… pull it out!" Finally, he gave up. "It's really stuck in there! Give it a try, Sparky!" Sparky walked over to the gem and tugged on it, but once again, it didn't budge. "Wow," Riolu rubbed his chin, "how are we going to get this out?"

Once again, Sparky's vision grew dimmer. _Oh, it's happening again!_ He tried to endure the dizziness as the world spin around him. The white flash returned and the silhouette was in the vision. This time, it was in the same gem filled cave as them, and it attempted to pull the giant gem out, but, as if it knew something, pushed the gem instead. The cave started rumbling and shaking. Then, a wave of water broke out and washed the silhouette away. When Sparky returned to the present, Riolu was trying to pull the gem again. "Ugh, this is really… stuck in there." Then, by slim chance, Riolu noticed some kind of button, so he pushed it.

"No! Don't-" Sparky was interrupted the cave's rumbling. _Oh no,_ he thought, _here it comes!_ "Brace yourself!" He exclaimed.

"Wh-what?" Suddenly, a wave of water broke out and rapidly washed the team away. "AAAAAHHHHH!" Luckily, they managed to grab hold of each other and stuck together. After an extremely bumpy ride of striking sharp rocks and flowing at an extreme speed, they were shot out of a geyser and landed in some warm, murky water. The team was blinded by the sun's rays above them. They sat up and their visions clarified to reveal some Pokemon looking at them in awe.

"My goodness, are you alright?" an elderly voice exclaimed.

"Wh-where are we?" Riolu asked, his head spinning from being thrashed around so much.

"Well, you're in the hot spring! You just shot out of the geyser! Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah. Who are you?"

"I'm Torkoal, Treasure Town's elder. You must be extremely exhausted, please, relax with us in the Hot Spring."

The team looked around, flustered. "Huh, the Hot Spring," said Riolu, "I always wanted to visit here. I guess there's no time like the present! Thanks everyone!" _Even though we didn't get that big gem,_ Sparky thought, slightly disappointed, _at least we found a way to this pleasant hot spring! But wait… That figure in my vision… It looks… familiar…_ he dug into his mind, trying to think of who that silhouette was, when finally, _wait a second, it was Wigglytuff!_ He remembered the slightly chubby body, the standing, stiff ears, and a little "puffball" hair style on his head. _There's no mistaking it! That silhouette was Wigglytuff!_

()()()()()

Back at the guild, the team was trying to tell Chatot about everything they saw. "What?!" Chatot exclaimed, seriously astonished by the team's discovery, "There was a cave behind the waterfall, and at the end was a gem-filled cave with the most giant gem you've ever seen? Then, when you pushed it, a trap was triggered and a giant wave washed you away to the Hot Spring?!"

"Yes… I know it sounds far-fetched, and I would have brought the gem back but-"

"No no no! Don't feel bad! What you discovered was a brilliant success!"

"Really?!" Riolu asked, relieved that Chatot believed such an unbelievable story.

"We would never have known about this if you hadn't told us! Keep this up and you are guaranteed to be chosen for the expedition!"

"But…" Sparky asked, still confused about his vision, "I think Wigglytuff has been there before…"

"Huh? Why would you say such a thing?" _Why would he want to ruin his successful exploration?_ Chatot thought.

"Well… Um… I saw his tracks on the ground in the cave," he lied, not wanting to tell him about his visions.

"Well, I'll check in with the guildmaster…" He walked into the wooden door, and the team could overhear the conversation.

"Oh yes, I do believe I went there, the Waterfall Cave, that place was oh so wonderful!" Wigglytuff said enthusiastically, "And the Hot Spring was so pleasant, I made friends with so many Pokemon! Friendly friends!"

Chatot left the room, "Well, you heard him. I guess your exploration was pointless after all!"

Riolu sighed. "Aw, I really thought we discovered something amazing!" Riolu looked down at the ground.

()()()()()

Inside the team's room, Riolu and Sparky were getting ready for bed. "It's a shame that Wigglytuff already explored that cave but… At least we told the truth. I wouldn't want any undeserved rewards anyway." Riolu muttered, still disappointed.

 _Oh, Riolu's really disappointed in this exploration now,_ Sparky thought, _I wonder if telling the truth was a good decision. It WAS his first discovery after all._

"Well, it won't help us sleep if we keep thinking about it. Good night, Sparky." A few minutes passed, and time for Riolu seemed to pass extremely slowly. "Ugh, I can't sleep." He stood up and looked at the full moon out the window. "Now that I'm thinking about it, this time in your vision, you saw the past. So I'm thinking that whatever your ability is, you can see both the past AND the future. And... I just noticed that every time your vision is activated, you touch something. Like when you touched Drowsee, or when you touched the waterfall. Maybe we could use your ability to our advantage." He looked down at Sparky. He was already in a deep slumber. "Well, I guess I should try to get some rest. I still want us to get picked for the expedition." He tried to get comfortable on the hay bed. "Good night Sparky."

 **A/N: I wanted to try to make Riolu disappointed in Sparky, but not argue with him. No matter what they do, I feel like this pair shouldn't be arguing. (Although on second thought, even the best of friends argue sometimes, so maybe at some point or another I'll make them get into an argument) It just… Doesn't feel right to me. Notice I made him say "I still want US to get picked for the expedition." Instead of just including himself. I feel that subtle detail at least KIND OF built on his character and relationship. Right? Well, what do I know? If you have criticism, please put it in the reviews, it's greatly appreciated. And once again, I hope you have a brilliant new year. :D**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Expedition

**Sorry for the delay. It's finals week so I'm studying for that. So, I'm skipping Apple Woods because screw you Team Skull. Oh, and I just realized I probably should have gave some depth to some of the side characters. Whoops, too late now. Oh, and another thing I just realized: I didn't introduce the Time Gears to the main characters yet. Because THAT'S NOT A CRUCIAL PART OF THE GAME. (Sarcasm)** ***sigh* Well, I suppose I could add it this chapter. I am stupid.**

 **EDIT TO CH. 4: Seriously, how dense am I? I edited the last chapter and made Riolu realize that Sparky's vision was always activated when he touches something. How the hell am I so stupid? *sigh***

 **EDIT: Took out a foreshadowing thing that I didn't end up doing anyway. It's not that important, I'm just being nitpicky. :P**

 **EDIT: Took out that annoying part in the above author's note where I just sounded cynical as all balls. Sorry for that.**

 **Chapter 5**

"Three! Smiles go for miles!" The guild finished their morning chant.

"Alright Pokémon, finally, the expedition will start today!" Chatot announced. The guild cheered obstreperously.

"Finally!" One guild member said.

"Yeah! Yesterday felt like it lasted forever!"

"But before we announce the participants, I have some tragic news to announce." The guild whispered and murmured. "Another Time Gear has been stolen."

"What?!" The guild gasped in astonishment.

 _T-time gears?_ Sparky thought, _Stolen? What's going on here? And… Why do those words sound so... familiar?_

"Another one? That's two already!" One guild member said.

"Yes, it surely is tragic news. This time, the Time Gear was from Treeshroud Forest."

Riolu looked over to Sparky, and noticed the confused look on his face. "Oh, that's right! You haven't heard of this yet! Time Gears are these objects that keep time intact in a specific region. If a Time gear is stolen, then all time in that area will stop, and more mystery dungeons start popping up. A Time Gear has already been stolen at a place called Limestone Cavern in Stone Quarry."

 _Wow, it seems like a lot is happening in this world, and it's not good._

"Hey hey! Has this nasty criminal been caught yet?"

"Unfortunately, no. This crook got away clean and is still at large. No one even saw the Time Gear being stolen. So it's extremely important that if any of you see anything suspicious, contact Officer Magnezone immediately, got it?"

"Got it!" the guild replied.

"Now that that's out of the way, we have chosen who to come on the expedition based on your performance yesterday. Now Wigglytuff, the paper. I will be listing you all in your groups in which you will be travelling in." Wigglytuff handed over a paper with a list of names. "Alright, the guild members who will join us on this expedition are…" The guild was silent with anticipation. "Croagunk, Sunflora…" One by one, each guild member stepped up to the front, when finally, "Now finally, the last group… Well well well! Isn't this a surprise! Bidoof, Sparky, and Riolu!"

"Yes! We did it, you guys!" Riolu cheered in excitement as he pulled Sparky and Bidoof to the front.

"And I will be travelling with Wigglytuff as our own group."

"Aww, do I have to? Boooooring!"

"Wait a second, Guildmaster," Chatot said, looking at the paper with confoundedness. "You've chosen everyone in the guild! Why have you done that?"

"Well, we wouldn't wanna leave any of our friends behind, now would we?"

"But… We'd be leaving the whole guild empty! What if someone breaks in?"

"We'll lock up properly! Relax! Let's go have fun!"

Chatot sighed. "I hope you're right. Alright everyone! Let me show you the route which you'll be travelling! Take out your Wonder Maps." Everyone took out their yellowed, weathered looking maps. "We will be travelling along this path here. It'll lead you straight to Fogbound Lake. If you don't take any deviations, you shouldn't get lost. Understood?"

"Understood!"

"Alright then Pokémon! Then let's get this expedition started!"

"Hurray!"

As the guild made their way down to the crossroads, Riolu caught sight of the silhouette he kept seeing. "Who's there?" He said, wondering why he kept seeing this figure. The figure stepped forward, but another shadow swiftly pulled it into a bush. He could hear quiet whispers, as if the figures were arguing.

"What's wrong?" Sparky asked.

"I… Keep seeing this silhouette following me. It dove into this bush." They looked at the bush, completely still except for the breeze gently blowing the leaves. Cautiously, the team pulled the bush open, but there was nothing in it. "Hmm… I guess it must be in my imagination."

()()()()()()()()()()()() **Skipping Craggy Coast because I'm impatient and I really want to get to the plot I planned out.**

The team arrived at the camp. A thick shroud of fog wafted through the air and they could barely see the rest of the guild gathered. _Huh?_ Sparky thought. _Have I… been here before?_ He imagined seeing the forest without the tents set up all over the place. _I have, haven't I? This place…_ He dug into his mind, trying to think of where he saw this forest before, _…No it must be nothing._

"Sparky?" Riolu interrupted his thoughts, "What's wrong? Did you have another vision?"

"Um… no I-"

"Ah, finally, what took you so long?" Chatot interrupted Sparky. "Everyone else arrived a long time ago!"

"S-sorry." Riolu stammered.

"No matter. Alright everyone! We are here to explore this mythical 'Fogbound Lake!' You are to find a way to the lake, or find a way to lift this fog. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" The guild cheered.

"But sir?" One guild member said, "On our way here, we heard that there is a mythical Pokemon here called Uxie. And anyone who does find their way to the lake gets their memories wiped clean!"

 _Their memories get erased?_ Sparky thought. _Then... maybe the key to unlocking my memories is in Uxie, if she maybe erased my memories!_

"This lake is surrounded by legends, and as such, they are just mere myths and rumors. Don't pay it any mind. Now, find a way to lift this fog!"

"Will do!" the guild cleared out of the camp.

"C'mon, Sparky! Let's find that lake!" Riolu ran on the path towards the dense, foggy

forest.

 _I can't shake off this feeling,_ Sparky thought, _I know I've been here before!_

"Hey, what's this?" Sparky looked up to see Riolu pointing to a red stone. "It looks like some kind of jewel." He picked it up. "Wow, it's really warm!" The gem radiated a red light around it, and you could see the heat it emitted. "Maybe it'll be useful. C'mon, Sparky!"

The fog grew even denser in the forest. The team had to grab onto each other to stick together. When finally, they started to hear water pouring all around them. "Huh?" Riolu noticed a statue of a certain Pokemon. "What's that?" The team walked over to the statue. "It looks like some sort of legendary Pokemon! Hmm…" He walked around it, hoping to find a plaque of some kind to read. "Ah! Here we go!" He found a weathered out plaque with hard to read words inscribed on it. He started to read it "'Reignite the life that burned within Groudon. Then the sky shall blaze with the sun's heat. The path to treasure shall be revealed.'" Riolu's eyes lit up. "Treasure?! Wow, Sparky that's incredible! But… Reignite the life that burned within 'Groudon?' Is that this Pokemon here? What does this mean?" Riolu rubbed his chin until, "Hey, Sparky, you should try touching the statue, maybe you'll have a vision!"

"Right." Gently, Sparky gently touched the statue. The forest was silent except for the deafening sound of the crashing water. Sparky started getting dizzy. _It's happening!_ He thought. The dizziness persisted for a couple seconds when finally, his vision went black, and a white light covered his vision. The light faded to black, and Sparky could hear voices.

"That's it! the Groudon statue!" He heard a voice.

"Now let's see here…" Sparky could hear pages vigorously being flipped. "Ah! 'Place the Drought Stone into Groudon's heart.' That lifts the fog!"

"Great job partner!" The white flash returned, and he was back in the foggy forest.

"Well?" Asked Riolu, "Did you see anything?" Sparky told him about the "Drought Stone." "Hmm, I wonder what a 'Drought Stone' is." Riolu felt the warmth in his hand, being emitted from the red jewel. "Huh? Hey, I think it's this!" He took out the gem, which was now glowing intensely. "Now, 'into Groudon's heart…'" He placed the stone into an indent in the statue. Suddenly, the ground started shaking. "Aah! Sparky, stand back!" The team stepped back as the fog gradually lifted to reveal a whole island, being held up by a single column of dirt and rock. Four waterfalls were falling from the island, and was crashing down onto the ground. "Woah! What is that? Is that… Fogbound Lake?" Riolu saw a cloud of steam bellowing out of a cave. "Hey, I think that's a way in! Let's go!" The team sweated profusely as they tried to traverse through the scorching cave. Lakes of lava flowed all around them and steam was blowing out of holes in the ground. When finally, they entered an opening. "I feel like we've come pretty far-"

"WHO ARE YOU?" A deafening voice interrupted him as it pounded through the air. "NO ONE IS ALLOWED HERE."

"Who's there!? Um, we are an exploration team, so we have come to explore Fogbound Lake."

"NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO ENTER FOGBOUND LAKE. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY. OR ELSE…"

"B-but… We just came to…"

"ENOUGH! IF YOU WILL NOT LEAVE," suddenly, a gigantic red Pokemon appeared. It had intimidating claws on his hands and horns protruding out of the sides of it. "I WILL FORCE YOU TO LEAVE."

"Wh-wha! Sparky, i-i-it's the Pokemon we saw on the statue!" Suddenly, the ground started to shake vigorously. The pebbles bounced off the ground, and the ground forcefully threw the team to the ground. "Wha! I-it's an earthquake! I can't keep my balance!" The Groudon used his gargantuan claws to slash at Sparky, and he was sent flying and was flung to the wall, creating cracks across the whole wall. "S-Sparky!" Riolu ran over, only barely dodging the Groudon's second slash. "Are you alright?" he looked back. "Look, we don't want to fight!"

(Cont on pc)

"That's a Time Gear?!" Riolu asked, astonished.

"Yes. That is why I guard this lake. I'm sure you've heard of the other ones being stolen?"

"Yeah… It's horrible that anyone would even consider stealing these precious objects…"

"You have gained my trust. Should you abuse this, I WILL erase all your memories of this place."

Riolu gasped, "Oh that's right!" Riolu pulled Sparky in front of him. "Meet my partner, Sparky. Now a Cyndaquil, once a human!"

"Human?"

"Sparky here can't remember anything from when he was a human, and he thinks that maybe you erased his memories."

"Hmm, no. I don't believe I've ever encountered a human before, and I only erase memories of Fogbound Lake, not whole lives. I apologize, but the cause for your friend's memory loss is elsewhere."

"Aw, I thought that maybe we found something out there… But this expedition wasn't a total waste, after all, we found this fantastic view!" As he said that, the water under the flow shot up, sending steaming water hundreds of feet up into the air. The glow shined through the water, sending beams of light throughout the night sky. The hundreds of Volbeat and Illumise lit up the air with their bulbs while observing the spectacle in front of them. "Wow! This view just got a million times better!" Riolu's eyes lit up. "All the water spewing out of the ground, and the light from the Time Gear only lights up the steam, so we could see the billows of steam rising up!"

"Yes it is truly a sight to behold." Behind them, they heard the whole guild running up to them.

"Hey, wow!" They heard Wigglytuff behind them, looking at the sight ahead of them. "Is that a Time Gear? Aw, that's too bad, we can't take that."

"Who is this?" Uxie asked, surprised there were other Pokemon.

"This is our guildmaster, don't worry, he's a nice Pokemon."

"Well, I dunno about you guys, but I think this expedition was a success!" The guildmaster said. The guild stayed for a few more minutes, marveling at the sight before them before having to leave after their successful trip.

 **Skipped the Groudon battle since I am crap at writing battles, and I wanna get to the plot.. I really wish that I can think of a good title for this story now. One that would draw people in. But, I can't think of any that doesn't sound completely pretentious. If only you guys could suggest some title to me, but I don't want to spoil anything for you. Ah well. All criticism is appreciated, as always.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Old Enemies

**Sorry for the delay, I've been going on a Doctor Who marathon, since it was taken off Netflix in the US. It was the only reason I got Netflix in the first place. And now... It's gone… *sobs in the corner* But hey, at least Pokemon XY was added to it so... I'll keep it for now. (But good lord, I am gonna miss the Doctor)**

 **Chapter 6 – Old Enemies**

"C'MON! WAKE UP! IT'S BACK TO OUR TYPICAL GUILD WORK!" The Loudred bellowed into the room. The team's ears rung as the obnoxiously loud voice vibrated the room.

"Ugh… Alright, alright!" Riolu shivered as he stood up. "C'mon, Sparky. Onto our regular jobs." He walked out of the room. Sparky stood up to follow him, but noticed something on his bed.

 _Hm, what's this?_ He thought, _it's a note! I didn't notice it last night since I was too tired._ He picked the note up and read it. "Nothing is forgotten," it read. _...What's that supposed to mean? How did this even get here? "Nothing is forgotten…"_ He gasped. _Could it be referring to... my memories?_

"Hey, Sparky. What's the hold up?" Riolu interrupted his thoughts.

"Um, c-coming!" He kept hold of the note as he walked out of the room.

"Alright, Pokemon," Chatot said to get the attention of the guild, "it's back to our regular guild work, so let's get-"

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" the sentry interrupted him.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" The Loudred replied.

"The footprint is... Th-th-th-the footprint is..." The sentry stammered, "the Great Dusknoir's!"

"WHAT?!" The whole guild chattered.

"Um... who's the 'Great Dusknoir?'" Riolu asked.

"Eek, how don't you know him?" A guild member replied, "He's an infamous explorer around the world! He just rose up overnight and explored multiple dungeons! He knows everything about the world! And, what's unusual about him is, he travels solo!"

"Solo?" Riolu asked, surprised.

"Yep, he's so good at exploring, he doesn't need partners!"

"What's that?" The sentry listened to Dusknoir's request. "You'd like to speak to our guildmaster? Of course!"

()()()()()

The explorer walked into the guild. His single eye was a luminous red, and it looked as if he had a face on his chest and back. _Hmm…_ Sparky thought, _the same feeling I had at Fogbound Lake… He looks familiar… I can't describe it, but when I look at him… I feel… Scared! As if I have to run away from him!_

"So, I heard your guild went to Fogbound Lake? I was wondering if you had found anything." Dusknoir said. His voice was deep and raspy, but had a respectable tone to it.

"Nope," the guildmaster replied, knowing to keep his promise he made to Uxie, "we didn't find anything."

"Oh, that's quite disappointing…" he said, "Well, I'll have to inform you that I'll be staying here a few days, and the whole guild is free to ask for advice or autographs."

"Wow, that's great! Thank you!"

"ZZT ZZT! May I have your attention…" the robotic voice was coming from outside the guild.

The guild gasped. "That's Officer Magnemite!" One member exclaimed.

"I regret to inform you that the thief of the Time Gears had stolen another Time Gear!"

"Oh no! Where was it stolen from now?"

"This time… The Time Gear was stolen from Fogbound Lake."

"WHAT?!... It can't be that someone…" Riolu said.

"Hey, don't say that!" One member yelled.

"Yeah, don't you have any trust in your colleagues?!"

"R-right… Sorry I shouldn't have assumed."

"I-I'm sorry… I'm afraid I don't understand." Said Dusknoir, "You said that you didn't find anything at Fogbound Lake."

"I'm sorry Dusknoir," the guildmaster said, "we made a promise to the guardian, Uxie."

"But fortunately, the thief has now been discovered! ZZT ZZT!"

"Wow, really? Who is it?"

"The criminal is called Grovyle! He should be on your Outlaw Notice Board." The guild ran over to the bulletin board to find the largest paper was showing an intimidating looking, green Pokemon. It had a giant leaf growing out of its head, and its chest was a bright red.

"Wow, he looks scary!" One guild member said.

"Yeah, he definitely seems like the Pokemon to steal a Time Gear."

 _Hmm…_ Sparky thought, _I can't put my finger on it… But he looks familiar! And… I feel… happy? No… no no, th-that can't be right._ But his feeling persisted as long as he kept looking at the mugshot.

"Hmm… Alright everyone!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, "from now on, we will be focusing our efforts on capturing Grovyle!"

"And I'd be happy to assist in your search for him." Dusknoir said, "I'm sure my knowledge may come into use here."

"Wow, really? Thanks!" The guildmaster gratefully said, "With the great Dusknoir's helping us, we'll be sure to capture that Grovyle before he steals another Time Gear!"

"Thanks, but I'm afraid that I am no greater than any of you Pokemon. We are all explorers, and we all have our strengths and our weaknesses, including myself. I really am not as 'great' as you all say."

"Wow, Dusknoir's is so humble, he really is the greatest explorer in the world." One member said, completely ignoring his statement.

()()()()()

The guildmaster and Dusknoir had gone inside the guildmaster's room to plan where to start searching. The rest of the guild were to wait outside. "I wonder…" Riolu pondered, "Why would this Pokemon want to steal a Time Gear?"

"It must be for one diabolical reason." One guild member said, "I heard that all the Pokemon who live in the paralyzed areas are frozen too!"

"R-really?" Riolu asked, astonished, "What are they experiencing? Are they conscious?"

The doors to the guildmaster's room opened and the guildmaster and Dusknoir walked out.

"We have figured out a couple places to start searching." Dusknoir said, "The Time Gears were all located on lakes. And they were located where you would least expect them. So we are searching in places you wouldn't expect to see a lake." He then started assigning groups to specific places to search when finally, "and Team Pokepals will be exploring the Northern Desert. Be careful out there you two. The sandstorms here are extremely treacherous. Actually…" He said, reconsidering, "since the both of you are rookies, I will be accompanying you on this exploration. Is that alright?"

"Are you kidding? That'll be more than alright! C'mon Sparky!"

"S-sparky?!" Dusknoir said, seeming to be astonished to hear that name.

"Huh? Does that name mean anything to you?"

"N-no. Sorry."

"Hmm… Alright. Let's go!" Riolu said, leading the way out of the guild.

" _No… It can't be…"_ Sparky heard Dusknoir mutter under his breath.

()()()()()

Outside the desert, the sand already seemed to be blowing vigorously around them. Grains of sand were floating about the air and Sparky adjusted his sky blue bow over his mouth and snout to keep from suffocating.

"Alright, so the lake will be where we least expect," said Riolu, "so let's try to keep our eyes open."

In the desert the sandstorm got even worse. The sandstorm grew much denser and the grains of sand were viciously being thrashed about; the sun was not even visible above them, there was just an ominous brown haze, with dust being thrown all over the place. Despite his makeshift head cloth, sand got in Sparky's mouth and was pelted constantly with thousands of grains of sand. Finally, they could bear it no more, and they fortunately found a small cave they could take shelter under.

Riolu coughed up grains of sand. "So, Dusknoir, how did you get so famous overnight?"

"Well, I just started exploring. That's all I wanted to do. To venture into the unknown and solve the mysteries of this world we live in. I'm assuming that's why you became an explorer too?"

"To be honest, my ultimate goal will be to solve the mystery of my relic fragment." He picked up his stone necklace. "I found it on the ground one day. See? There's some sort of pattern on it." He showed it to Dusknoir as he looked at the pattern intently. "Hey, you're a knowledgeable explorer, do you know what this pattern is?"

He looked down on the pattern, and made a small (and malicious looking) grin, on all three of his faces. "Um... no... I have never seen this pattern before."

"Oh, that's quite disappointing... I would've thought that someone as great as you would surely know something about this."

"I'm sorry, I hope you will solve the mystery soon."

"It's alright, nobody can know everything." He looked out of the cave. The sandstorm seemed to be subsiding. "For now, let's focus on catching that Grovyle!" He led the way out of the cave. The sandstorm had passed, although now the sun shined directly above their heads. The rays beated down on their heads, and they already started sweating profusely. But fortunately, there seemed to be an ending point to the dungeon. They arrived at a field of quicksand pits. "Wow, look at this!" He ran up close to one of the pits. "These are like whirlpools." He backed off a safe distance from the pits and shivered. "We do not want to get sucked down there." He looked ahead. "Hmm... this seems to be a dead end..."

Sparky looked around. _Hmm... it's that same feeling I had at Fogbound Lake! I've been here before, right?_ He expressed this to Riolu.

"Huh, really?!" He jumped in astonishment. "Hmm... last time you had that feeling there was a connection to a Time Gear also, so... could it just be a coincidence?"

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand." Dusknoir asked, wondering what connection Sparky could have with the Time Gears.

"Oh, right! You may know something about this! I found Sparky unconscious on the beach back at Treasure Town. He said he couldn't remember anything before, and, something interesting: he thinks he was a human before!"

"A human?" he asked, seeming to have heard that word before. In fact he seemed to be all too familiar with it... He even made the same sort of grin back at the cave.

"Do you know something about that?" Riolu asked, noticing he seemed to know about humans.

"Umm... no. I don't." He then looked at Sparky, and then made a small smirk, as if he had just planned something.

"Oh... alright. Well, Sparky, if you think this place is familiar, and it's really where you'd least expect it then..." he looked down at the quicksand pit. "No, it can't be under there, right?"

"I-I think it is..." Sparky muttered, knowing fully well that they could suffocate under there, but there was something, deep down in his subconscious telling him that the Time Gear was down there.

"Well... what do you think, Dusknoir?" Riolu asked.

"Well, do you trust Sparky?"

Riolu paused at that question. He thought back at the waterfall cave, and the incident with Drowzee. He was right all those times! But... he looked down at the pit. He was right back at the waterfall cave so... "Yes... I trust him." _With my life, I suppose. I risked my life multiple times trusting him._ Riolu thought.

Sparky had to admit he had his doubts too. _I mean... just because my subconscious is telling something is down there, means we should risk our lives to do it? Well, it worked last time._

"So... we just dive in, right?" Riolu asked. Sparky nodded tentatively, and Dusknoir - obviously having doubts also – agreed also. "Alright... on 3. 1... 2... 3!" They all dived in the pit, none of them noticing that Sparky dropped the note he found that morning before jumping in. They closed their mouths to stop the sand from flooding into their mouths, but tons of sand flowed into their nostrils, and, momentarily, they couldn't breathe.

But fortunately, a few seconds later, they fell through and fell down a large cave, the sand breaking their fall. "Owowow!" Riolu winced and rubbed at his small bruise. He looked around at the dark cave. "Wow, Sparky, you were right! And I'll bet the Time Gear's here also! Let's go!"

()()()()()

Back on the surface, the green Grovyle walked up to the pits. "So... according to our research, the Time Gear should be below here..." He backed up to get a running start, but noticed something on the ground. He walked up to it and picked it up. "Nothing is forgotten." He read out loud. "What's that supposed to mean? Wait... Is this... My handwriting? No... It can't be, I know I haven't written this. Hm, no matter." He kept hold of the note as he swiftly jumped into the pit.

()()()()()

The trio traversed through the cave. Despite being underground, there were still vicious sandstorms hindering their movement. But luckily, they found their way to the end of the cave. "Hey look!" Riolu looked ahead. "There's a lake up ahead!" They ran towards it and saw a green glow at the center of it. "That's it! The same glow we saw on Fogbound Lake! That has to be a Time Gear!"

"Yes it is. And I will NOT let you take it." A voice said.

"I presume I'm talking to the guardian of the lake, Mespirit." Dusknoir said.

"You seem to know me? It doesn't matter. Either way, I WILL stop you from stealing the Time Gear. Uxie told me you stole the Time Gear at Fogbound Lake using her telepathy!" said Mespirit.

"That was not us! You can even check. Ask him if he's seen us there, stealing the Time Gear."

"Don't lie to me!"

"Is it so hard to check? Don't make assumptions."

There was a small pause. "Alright." There was a flash of white light, and a small Pokemon appeared floating ahead of them. "But I will be keeping a close eye on you. If you make any move, I will stop you."  
"Fair enough." Mespirit seemed to be in a meditative state for a few seconds. Until, "Alright, the thief is not you. But why are you here?"

"We're here to stop the thief. I presume Uxie told you he was a green Pokemon called Grovyle? We came here to stop him when he eventually tries to steal this one."

"Not this time." they heard a voice from behind them. It was Grovyle.

"Wah! I-it's him!" Riolu exclaimed. _He looks even more intimidating in person!_ Riolu thought.

"I should have known you'd follow me here." He said, with a hint of dread in his voice. _Huh? Do they... know each other?_ Sparky thought.

"You are not getting away this time!" He lurched forward to attack.

"W-wait!" Riolu yelled, trying to pull Dusknoir back.

Grovyle dashed to the side, and dove into the lake. Sparky and Riolu tried to stop him, but he was too quick. "No! Not this time!" Dusknoir yelled as he tried floating to the Time Gear, hoping he could outfloat the swimming Grovyle. But before he could get to it, Grovyle had already snatched the gear from its pedestal. A deafening groaning sound was emitted, and the whole cave started shaking, small pebbles falling from the ceiling.

"You really thought I didn't train to swim? I know these are all located at lakes. I only have one more to go!" He said, taunting Dusknoir as he tried to float his way over to him. "And you'll _never_ catch me." He said with a hint of hatred in his voice. He threw down an orb and a bright, white flash waved through the whole lake. When the light dimmed, Grovyle was gone.

"No!" he said. He teleported away, leaving Sparky and Riolu behind in the collapsing cave. _Wh... What just happened?_ Sparky was too distraught to even say a word.

"You two! We have to get out of here! This place is collapsing, and we could get frozen in time! Grab on!" He held out his hand and the team grabbed onto it, and they all teleported away, just in the nick of time before the wave of darkness took over the cave, leaving the collapsing boulders and rocks suspended in the air.

()()()()()

Back at Wigglytuff's Guild, the pair told everyone what happened. "What?!" the whole guild exclaimed in astonishment.

"And... it seemed Dusknoir seemed to have known Grovyle before!" Riolu explained, knowing that his story seemed too implausible to be believed.

"ZZT ZZT! Attention all guild members."

"That's Officer Magnemite!" A guild member said.

"A town meeting has been called and the guild is especially called to attend!" The whole guild walked down to the Treasure Town plaza. The whole town was gathered around. Dusknoir, along with Officer Magnezone and Magnemite, were floating at the front. Uxie and Mespirit were found off to the side.

"ZZT Alright. It seems everyone is present. We have called everyone here for a very important meeting." Announced Officer Magnezone, "But I am afraid I cannot explain it. Dusknoir, if you will."

"Thank you, Officer." He stepped forward. "Now I am sure you have all heard the thief of the Time Gears is a Pokemon called Grovyle, correct?" Everyone nodded. "Well, I have been in direct contact with him, in a cave deep in the Northern Desert, along with Team Pokepals. And I am ashamed to say that Grovyle has... stolen the Time Gear from there also."

"WHAT?!" The whole town was in panic.

"And unfortunately... he has evaded our capture." Everyone continued their panic. "But, we DO have an advantage!" He pointed to Uxie and Mespirit. "We are now allied with the Lake Guardians! If I am correct, I do believe that there is another guardian out there."

"Yes, his name is Azelf. He guards the Time Gear at Crystal Lake. We have already alerted him using our telepathy. He has set a failsafe trap to stop him from stealing it."

"Thank you. Your cooperation will definitely help us catch that Grovyle. Now, I want everyone to help this time. Including the non-guild members. I want everyone to spread some rumors that Azelf is in progress of setting a trap at Crystal Lake. This will cause him to more quickly arrive at Crystal Cave. And I apologize, but, I would like to capture Grovyle on my own this time."

"What?!" everyone exclaimed in astonishment, especially the guild.

"If there are more Pokemon around the cave, Grovyle would get suspicious and be more cautious. We could enable ourselves to ambush him stealthier with less Pokemon. Is that alright?"

Everyone nodded. "But Dusknoir, you still haven't explained." Riolu said, "You seem to have known Grovyle at the Underground Lake."

"And I still don't know what happens if all the Time Gears are stolen!" One Pokemon said.

There was a short pause, "If all the Time Gears are stolen... then the planet will be completely paralyzed. There will be no sunrise, nor sunset. No rain, no clouds, just perpetual darkness. All Pokemon on this planet will freeze. They will be frozen in a state of total fear and in a feeling of hopelessness. That is why we must stop Grovyle. And if you are wondering how I know all this, and if I knew Grovyle before: that is because we are both from the future."

"WHAT?!" The whole town exclaimed.

Riolu heard a rustling from behind him. Behind a tent, he could hear some Pokemon... arguing? He saw a figure dive out, but before anyone saw it, or before it made a noise, it was pulled back in. He heard someone... vigorously whispering? He couldn't hear what it was saying in particular, but he pulled his attention away from it. He wanted to hear what Dusknoir was saying. He was really from the future?

"We both come from the future, where the darkness and paralysis took over the planet. All because he stole the Time Gears. The only reason why the both of us has not been frozen is because we are time anomalies. We have travelled in time before and are unaffected by the planet's paralysis. But everyone else... Everyone in the world... is frozen. I came back here to stop Grovyle from stealing the Time Gears." His voice grew much more ashamed. "I... I'm sorry for lying to you all."

"No, no! Don't worry!" Officer Magnezone said, attempting to reassure him, "if you had told us earlier, we wouldn't have believed you! It's no wonder you refrained from telling us! But after what we have seen now, we'd believe anything."

"Thank you. Thank you all for forgiving me... But for right now, we have to focus on capturing Grovyle. Everyone, please start spreading rumors that Azelf is in progress of setting up a trap at Crystal Lake. You can all play an important part in saving the world. Thank you." The whole town applauded Dusknoir for making such a convincing monologue.

 **Wow, that was an extremely long chapter! Like, usually they're about 2,500 words long. This one? More than 3,400 words! WOAH! Well, I did reveal a lot of stuff here, so I guess I needed this amount of words. So yeah! I'm getting really close to the plot I planned out so get ready for that! Anyway *sigh* I'm gonna cry in a corner over a picture of the Doctor. God, I'm gonna miss watching that show. DAMN YOU NETFLIX.**


	7. Chapter 7 - Into the Future

**Sorry for the delay. I've been reading Doctor Who transcripts (seeing as Doctor Who was taken off Netflix *sobs*) and I always thought that I can't compare to the amazingness that is Doctor Who. Seriously. Watch Doctor Who. It's way better than this.**

 **Chapter 7 – Into the Future**

Riolu sighed. "It's been a couple days since Dusknoir went out. I wonder what's taking him so long." Everyone in Treasure Town was told to wait, and spread rumors. Team PokePals had finally gone back to doing their regular jobs. "I wonder if he's okay," he said, concerned about the explorer.

"ZZT ZZT! Attention all guild members!"

"That's Officer Magnemite!" One guild member said.

"I am delighted to report that Grovyle has been captured!"

"Wow, really?!" The guild cheered.

"Dusknoir has called a meeting at the town square. The guild is especially invited."

()()()()()

At the town plaza, the whole town was gathered, including all three of the lake guardians. There was a mysterious looking hole at the front.

"What is that?" One Pokemon asked. No Pokemon dared to go up to touch it.

But once again, Riolu could hear someone's voice. _It's that voice!_ He thought. _It's louder than it ever was now!_ The tone of the voice could be heard, and it's as if it's trying to warn everyone of something, but it was being held back by someone else.

But Riolu's thoughts were interrupted when Dusknoir arrived, with a couple of ghost type Pokemon that had big gems for eyes. They were pushing a trussed up Grovyle.

"Hello, everyone." Dusknoir said. "I am happy to announce that our mission succeeded, and we have captured the thieving Grovyle!" The whole town roared with cheers and whistles. Grovyle tried desperately to speak, but his mouth was muzzled tightly with a rope. Sparky couldn't help but to feel sorry for him. _I mean,_ he thought, _I know he's a bad Pokemon, but there's something in my mind telling me I should help him._

"But… It is now time for us to return to the future."

"Aww… So soon?" One Pokemon said.

"I am sorry, but it is my duty to apprehend Grovyle in the right time." He looked at one of the Pokemon. "Push him in." The Pokemon harshly pushed him in before he could make a sound. "Now, I'm afraid I will never be coming back here. But in my last moment here, I would like to thank you all for assisting me in my mission." He looked at the mysterious tunnel. "This is a dimensional hole. It allows me to travel through time. Before I go back to the future, I must see two Pokemon." He pointed to Sparky and Riolu. "Team Pokepals!"

The voice grew even louder than before, and a distinct rustling could be heard in the tent behind them.

"That's us…" Riolu said, trying to hold back his tears, "let's go."

"Team PokePals has especially assisted me in my mission. Without your instincts, we never would have found the Time Gear at the Underground Lake. Thank you."

"Of course, Dusknoir sir; but without your help, Grovyle wouldn't even be captured in the first place. We should be thanking you!" He said gratefully.

"But now, I'm afraid this is goodbye. I wish you luck on solving the mystery of your relic fragment."

"Thank you! Coming from you, that's an honor."

"Goodbye, everyone! Thank you all for your generous hospitality!" He started walking into the dimensional hole until, "Wait... one more thing..." he quickly turned around. "You two!"

"H-huh?! Us?!" Riolu asked, startled by the sudden change in the tone of his voice.

"You two... Are coming with me!" the mouth on his chest opened, and he grabbed them by the shoulders.

"Wh-wha! What are you-"

He was interrupted when Dusknoir harshly pulled them in the tunnel, which immediately afterwards disappeared, leaving everyone watching confounded.

()()()()()

 _Everything was black. Sparky could hear a faint roar and crashing of waves and the ominous howl of an ocean breeze, though the sounds were extremely distorted._

" _Alright you two." A distant voice rose out of nowhere, making Sparky jump. "You both won't be able to understand me yet. I am writing a letter so you could read these words later. But... look at you two..." Sparky could hear the laughs of what sounded like two different children. The sound echoed around him, the sound sending an ominous chill down his spine. "You both are gonna be amazing... The savers of the universe, I hope... I know that's a lot of pressure, but I know you could do it... I believe in you... I know that means almost nothing coming from someone you never spoke to, but..." The voice sighed. "I wish I could help you, but... Apparently you two are going to be one of the only ones to survive this... I suppose, that this isn't the worst way to go... I'm at my favorite place... with my two boys!" the voice laughed. "I am standing here on this beach... on this beautiful, brilliant beach... The most beautiful thing you will never be able to see. The waves are crashing on the sand, making beautiful foamy bubbles on the beach. You could look out onto the ocean, and could see the bluest blue. And the sunset..." there was a long pause, the only sound being the distorted and faint sound of the waves. "Oh, the sunset... the sun lets off the most magnificent of oranges out into the blue sky. The sun reflects off the ocean, and it looks like a tall candle flame..." The voice paused. "There's really nothing quite like the things you see... the things you'd normally take for granted in this world... and even then... even beyond this magnificent view... the universe is so much bigger... and so much more incredible than anyone on this world could imagine... I'm sorry you would never be able to see this... But maybe there's a chance... a chance to not only see this magnificent view, but to bring it all back... maybe... just... maybe..." the voice grew more and more distant, echoing all around Sparky._

" _W-wait! Come back!" he tried to say._

 _But another voice rose up. It was indistinct at first, but gradually got clearer. "Sparky!... Sparky!..._ Wake up Sparky!"

()()()()()

Sparky opened his eyes. His vision was blurry. He sat up seeing a familiar blue figure in front of him. Even his memory was blurred, he had a difficult time recognizing the figure. _That's... Riolu! Of course! I almost forgot!_ His vision cleared to find himself in a dark cell.

"Oh! Thank Arceus you're okay!" Riolu sighed in relief.

"Wh... where are we?" he asked.

"I don't know! I just woke up... the bars are locked... So... let me get this straight... Dusknoir grabbed us, and pulled us into that vortex-y thing... wait... so we must be in the future! How are we gonna get back?"

They heard some distant footsteps, quickly coming closer to them, when suddenly, the cell doors opened, and the same ghost type Pokemon they saw at the plaza walked in. "Oh good. They're awake. Saves us the trouble of carrying them."

"Wh-who are you?"

"Come with us." He commanded, ignoring his question.

"Wh-what?" the Pokemon pushed them out into the dark corridor. "H-hey! Stop pushing me!" They kept walking until they could feel some ropes being tied around them. Suddenly, a dim light lit up the room, revealing that they were trussed up on some poles. "Hey! Sparky! And..." Next to Sparky was Grovyle, who was also tied up. "Wha- You?!"

"Shut up! They're coming." He replied. The large doors opened and Dusknoir led the way towards them, followed by a group of the ghost type Pokemon.

"D-Dusknoir! What's happening?" Riolu asked.

"I said shut up!" Grovyle insisted.

"We've gathered them up sir." Said the minion.

"Good job, Sableye." He turned to Grovyle. "Well, well, well. Turns out you couldn't escape me after all. Heh." He looked down at the Sableye. "Do it."

"'Do' it?" Riolu asked, "What does he-"

"Quiet! I'm thinking..." Grovyle said. The Sableye slowly stepped closer. "Ok, the Sableye are going to use Fury Swipes on us." He whispered, "They should cut our ropes loose; the moment they do, use an attack."

"Wh-why are you giving us orders?!"

Grovyle sighed. "Look, it's your choice whether you want to listen to me. But if you want to survive, I suggest you do as I say."

The Sableye stepped closer until, they all unleashed their Fury Swipes on them. But then, a couple seconds later, the ropes broke loose. "Huh? Here's my chance!" The moment the Sableye made contact with him, Riolu used Counter to hit the Sableye back. "Got him!" he looked over to see that Sparky and Grovyle got out of the ropes unscathed as well.

"Wh-what?!" Dusknoir said, astonished.

"Grab on!" Grovyle said, reaching his hand out.

"Get them!" Dusknoir commanded. The Sableye all tried to attack them, but Grovyle threw an orb down, and a bright light lit up the room. When the light dimmed, they were nowhere to be seen. "Blast! They've escaped! Everyone! Split up! Find them!" he and the Sableye all cleared out of the room.

The trio burst out of the ground, leaving a pile of dirt beside them. "*cough**cough* Blech! I've got dirt in my mouth!"

"Enough complaining!" Grovyle snapped. "If you want to get back to your time, then I suggest you come with me."

"Wh-what? Why would we come with you? Why did Dusknoir pull us here anyway?"

"I have no idea. You must have done something they can't tolerate."

"Wh- Hey!"

"Stop arguing!" He stepped closer. "Look, do you know how you're going to get back?"

"...N-no." he stammered, stepping back from the intimidating Pokemon.

"Well, I do. And right now, your only hope of getting back to your time is if you listen to me. Now are you just going to stand there and argue with me, or are you going to listen to me, and get back to your world?" he said, harshly.

"... Fine. But this is only temporary! Don't think that I trust you yet! I just want to get back to my own time!"

"Fine. I couldn't care less." They could hear the many footsteps of the Sableye. "Follow me." He sprinted out of the stockade, he was noticeably slowing down so the others could keep up with him.

"So, how are we going to get back?" Riolu asked, panting as he tried running along the gray, colorless ground.

"I know a friend. She can bring us back."

"Wait... you're not going back to our time!"

"What? Why?"

"Because you're just going to steal the Time Gears again!" he exclaimed.

Grovyle sighed. "I have a good reason for that, you know."

"Oh, I'm sure you do!" he said, sarcastically. He noticed something on the side of the path. "Hey... what's that?"

"There's no time! Keep running!"

"But wait... That's a Pokemon! We could ask for help!"

"W-wait! Stay away from..." he paused when he saw Riolu's face. Standing, on the cliff face was all the guild members, all with either frightened, or depressed faces on. They were colorless, with all their color taken out of them, leaving only shades of gray on their bodies. They were all staring out into the distance, except...

"They... They aren't moving..." Riolu said, disturbed, his voice was trembling from fear. "Th...they must be statues, right? Please... Please tell me I'm right!" Tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"No... Those are real Pokemon... I'm assuming you-"

"Yes... I knew them..."

"...I... I'm sorry..."

There was a long pause. "This... This is... Your fault!" he said, running up to Grovyle.

"Wh-what?!" he said, stepping back.

Sparky tried to pull him back. "Riolu! Calm down!"

"Time froze... all because you stole the Time Gears! This is all your fault!"

"No it isn't! I don't know what Dusknoir told you, but it isn't me who did this!" he heard the Sableyes' footsteps, gradually getting louder. "Look, I'll explain later, but what's more urgent now is that we get out of here." He pulled them on to the path. "C'mon!" he sprinted even faster, hoping the Sableye hadn't seen them.

"All those Pokemon... They're frozen!" he furiously said, as he was running, "In a state of fear and in a feeling of hopelessness! Dusknoir told us!"

"Yes... he was right..."

"And it's all because you stole all the Time Gears!"

"Wh-what?! No! Not that part!" He stopped on his tracks and looked back. "Look, you're going to have to trust me." His voice lowered into a deep whisper.

"Trust you?! Please!"

Grovyle sighed. He looked back. "... I hope we lost them..." he pulled them to the side, behind a rock.

"H-hey! Stop pulling me!"

"Now, I know what I am about to say may not make you trust me, but... just hear me out."

"... Fine."

"I stole the Time Gears... so I could stop the planet's paralysis."

"Wh-what?! But if you steal all the-"

"I know what happens!" he said, interrupting him. "It's only temporary." He sighed, knowing the next sentence he was about to say would be hard to believe. "There is a place called the Hidden Land."

Riolu laughed. "You're insane!"

"Just hear me out! On the Hidden Land, is a place called Temporal Tower. It is the embodiment of time itself. Time is dying. All of time. It's happening! It doesn't matter if the Time Gears are stolen or not! If I bring all the Time Gears back to Temporal Tower, then time will survive!"

"Survive what? Why's it dying in the first place?"

"... It's complicated, and I don't have time to explain." He heard the footsteps getting closer.

"And you expect me to believe you!" he started walking out.

"Wh-where are you going?!"

"... I'm going to look for Dusknoir. He'll know what to do."

"Wh- are you insane?! Do you remember what he did to you?!"

"Maybe it was an accident!"

"Pulling you into the future, throwing you into a jail cell, and almost executing you was an accident?!"

He broke down into tears, and fell on his knees. "I... I don't know who to believe anymore..." Sparky ran up to comfort him.

"I... I know what you're experiencing is hard... but... you just need to get through this... I know that means nothing coming from someone you've hardly spoken to... And have no trust in at all..." he muttered that last part under his breath. "But-"

"Right now, we need to focus on how we're going to get back" Sparky interrupted him. He started whispering to Riolu. "I know what you saw is hard, but... we need to move on... we mourn, but we live... and right now, we need to focus." He looked up at Grovyle. He admitted that what Grovyle said sounded ridiculous, but there was something deep in his subconscious telling him to believe Grovyle. _He's telling the truth... I know he is! But why?... Why am I thinking that?_

The footsteps gradually got quieter. "I... I think they ran past." Grovyle peeked around the corner, and saw the group of Sableye run past.

"Alright, how are we going to get back?" Sparky asked.

"What if what I tell you is all lies?"

"I... I don't know... I don't know why, but I just trust you..."

"What? You can't be serious!" Riolu asked.

"There's something... deep in my mind, telling me to trust him..."

"I have a friend... she's called Celebi. She can bring us back to our time through something called the Passage of Time."

"Alright. Let's go." Grovyle stood up and walked out. "Riolu... I know you have no reason to trust him, but we need to focus..."

"Do you... do you..."

"Do I... what?"

"Do you even care?"

"What?!"

"You just saw everyone at the guild, standing there, frozen and terrified, and it's like you don't even care!"

"Wh- of course I care! I know. I know, Riolu. What you saw was hard, I know. Like I said, we mourn, but we live. But right now, we need to focus on getting back. And to get back, the last thing we need is to get sentimental about it."

"What's gotten into you? Ever since you met Grovyle, you've gotten so... unemotional! You've been turned into him!"

"When we get back to the past we'll find a way to stop Grovyle, alright? So that none of this would have even happened! So the guild wouldn't even be frozen on that cliff in the first place!" he whispered. "We need to focus on getting back now... alright?"

"...Alright."

Sparky and Riolu ran up to Grovyle. "Right, so where is this 'Celebi' then?"

"She's in this forest here. It's called Dusk Forest. She should be at the end of it. Shouldn't be too dangerous to get there. Let's go." They ran along the path, not noticing the Sableye hiding behind the rock behind them.

()()()()()

It was almost pitch black inside the forest. No light was getting through the thick canopy above them. "This place... is really depressing." Riolu said, noticing all the leaves weren't moving at all.

"It used to look better. The sun used to shine through the leaves. You saw little patches of light laying on the ground. This place used to be so sprightly, so... alive... At least, that's what I heard."

"Have you ever seen this world, when it wasn't frozen?"

"...When I was just a little toddler. I don't remember how it looked though."

"How have you not been frozen, like all the others?"

"It's because I've traveled in time before. I'm a time anomaly."

"What, as a little child?"

"Yes, I've met Celebi a long time ago. She allowed me to travel in time, but not through the Passage of Time. We were only allowed to travel in small bursts, using only Celebi's power, not the Passage of Time's, so we didn't do anything... too harmful."

"When you say 'we.' You knew someone else?"

"Of course I did! I had friends!"

"Sure you did." He said, sarcastically, gaining an annoyed look from Grovyle. "...Where is he now?"

He stopped walking. "...He's... Gone now."

"...Gone? What do you mean?"

Grovyle remained silent until they finally reached the end of the forest. They arrived at a large field, and could hear a distant ringing from up ahead. "Celebi? Celebi, are you there?" The forest remained silent. "Celebi? Oh Arceus, I hope nothing happened to her."

"What? To me? Please!" a voice suddenly burst out.

"Wha! Who's there?" Riolu exclaimed, startled.

"Don't worry, Riolu." Grovyle stated. "It's her. It's great to see you, Celebi."

With a bright flash, a small, floating pink Pokemon appeared out of thin air. "Wha-? You're Celebi?"

"Yes, I am. Is there a problem?"

"Well, I heard that you were the Time Travel Pokemon. I just thought that maybe you'd be more... Well..."

"Wha-?! Are you insulting my petite proportions? How insulting!"

"U-umm... Sorry..."

"Now... Grovyle... where's-"

"He's gone now!..." He yelled, interrupting her. "Sorry for snapping... He's just... gone now..."

"Oh, Grovyle... I'm so sorry..."

"What? What happened?" Riolu asked, noticing the change in the tone of their voices.

"No- It's nothing..." Grovyle said.

"He doesn't like to get emotional." Celebi whispered to Riolu. "Now, Grovyle, as you're back here now, I'm assuming you have failed in your mission of preventing the planet's paralysis?"

"Y-yes. I'm sorry, Celebi." Grovyle said.

"Hm, no matter. If you fail, you must try and try again. I'm assuming you want to travel through the Passage of Time?"

"Yes. Is it alright?"

"Of course! Follow me, it's just this way." Not too far ahead, they heard a certain whirring and ringing. "There it is!" Celebi said. In front of them was a mysterious looking tunnel. "The Passage of Time! Now, off you pop, and please, Grovyle, don't fail in your mission this time."

"Y-yes. Sorry Celebi."

"Alright. I hope you never come back here, lest that I'd have to come with you the next time. As I've said before, I'd give my life to get out of this dark and dreary world. It's so depressing! Goodbye you..." She paused.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Your friend..." She pointed to Sparky.

"Wha- me?" Sparky said.

"What? What about him?"

"No... It's nothing. Now go, save the world!" The trio stepped toward the Passage of Time, until...

"I don't think so, you three..." With a sudden flash, Dusknoir and a group of Sableye appeared in front of them.

"Wha- Dusknoir, sir!" Riolu said.

"Wha- You?!" Grovyle said, taking a fighting stance.

"I was following you the whole time. I knew you were coming to the Passage of Time! I just didn't know where it was. Thank you for leading us to it!"

"Gah! Of course!..."

"Let's not waste any more time, then, shall we? Sableye, just kill them." The Sableye walked closer.

"W-wait, Dusknoir!"

"Oh, what is it? Do you want to kiss up to me again? Seriously, how did any of you idiots trust me?"

"Wh-... wha?"

"Although... I do admit, I am a good actor..."

"So... you WERE lying then!"

"Oh of course I was. You're a bit slow, aren't you?"

"H... how dare you?!" The Sableye walked even closer.

"Gah, we're surrounded. But we can fight our way out." Grovyle said.

"Ha, I don't think so, Grovyle."

"What?"

"Did you really think I would come alone?... Dialga, sir. I think it's time you've shown yourself now." In the shadows, intimidating orange lines started to glow, and some dark, red eyes started to dimly glow. Then, it stepped forward, revealing a large beastlike Pokemon, seeming to have a crystalline body.

"Oh no... not here..." Celebi said.

"What is that?!" Riolu said, stepping behind Sparky.

"Th- tha... that's... Primal Dialga..."

"The creator of Temporal Tower!" Dusknoir continued for him.

"Wha... Temporal Tower is real?!" Riolu asked, astonished.

Dusknoir laughed. "Of course it's real! Have you ever read a mythology book? Now, Dialga, sir... Do it... Your signature move... Use Roar of Time!"

"No!" Celebi yelled. The large beast suddenly made a piercing, deafening roar. It burst through the air, and everyone covered their ears. "N...No... The Passage of Time..." The tunnel started to crack. The crack got bigger, and larger, until, the whole tunnel shattered, leaving the thousands of glowing pieces laying on the ground.

Everyone remained silent. "It's over... for us... But there's still a chance..." Grovyle said.

"Oh, really? I'd like to hear it." Dusknoir replied, in a mocking tone.

"I went back to the past with a partner. We got separated on our way there, but he got there, I know he did. I don't know what happened to him, but we'd better hope he's safe."

"Oh, did you really get separated? Because I have a feeling your partner may be closer than you think!"

"Wh... what are you on about?"

"Isn't that right... Sparky?"

Grovyle quickly turned around. "Wha- you're Sparky?!"

"Wha- what's happening?!" Sparky stepped back.

"You're Sparky... my partner... but... you were a human!"

"What?! A human?!" Riolu asked, astonished. "Sparky thinks that before he lost his memory, he was a human!"

"You lost your memory?! So... you have no idea who I am..."

 _So... all those times when I trusted Grovyle, and when I felt happy to see Grovyle,_ Sparky thought, _was all my lost memories telling me to trust him because... he was my partner?_

"When I went back to the past, to look for you," Dusknoir continued, "I stopped in Treasure Town... I thought it was a nice little, harmless town, until... I found you two... The human, turned into a Cyndaquil; and the one... with the Relic Fragment..."

"Wh-wha- my Relic Fragment?!"

"Show the pattern to Grovyle, will you?" Riolu did so, and Grovyle's eyes lit up.

"Y... you have it?!"

"H-have what?!"

"I didn't expect much at first, but, when I learned your name, Sparky, and found out about your lost memories; and Riolu, with your precious Relic Fragment; I thought the hands of fate were practically laying the solution out in front of me! And now, I brought you all together... All of you... Goodbye... Forever!"

"I... It's... It's over..." Grovyle said. The Sableye stepped even closer.

"Wha- you're giving up?!" Celebi asked, "You never do that!"

"And what do you expect me to do in this situation?! It's impossible! The Passage of Time is destroyed, we're surrounded by Sableye, and Primal Dialga is right in front of us! It's impossible! We should just give up... You win, Dusknoir... You... win..."

"... No..." Riolu said.

"No?" Dusknoir said, in a mocking tone.

"...No! There's always a way out! Always!" Riolu thought back to their conversation. _"We were only allowed to travel in small bursts, using only Celebi's power,"_ Grovyle had said before. "Of course! Celebi!"

"Wh-what?"

"You can travel in time on your own, right?"

"Y... yes... Oh... OH! Oh that's brilliant! How did I not think of that?! You are clever, almost as clever as me! (Well, almost) Of course, since Dialga's here we can't travel far in time, but we can travel far in space!"

"Wha- what are you talking about?" Grovyle said.

"I may not be able to travel far in time, but I can travel in space, to a place where I'm casually linked, a place where I normally teleport to."

"Can it work?"

"We'd better damn well hope. Because it's our only option right now." The Sableye were stepping closer now. "Grab on." She held her hand out. "And hold on tight! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" With a bright flash, they teleported away, leaving everyone silent and surprised.

"...No... No! They couldn't have gotten away again!" Dusknoir ran up to where they used to be. "...No..." He looked up at the Sableye. "I want everyone to make a search party! Find them!... FIND THEM!" The Sableye whimpered as they all cleared out to find them. "I... I'm sorry, Master Dialga... Next time, we will, kill them... Actually, next time... I'll kill them myself..."

 **Now THAT was a long chapter. More than 4500 words! DAMN! (Also, I did use "damn" in this chapter, so I don't know if I should leave the rating at K+, so please tell me if I should change it) Well, a lot happened in this one, and I am really proud of this one. Tell me what you thought in the reviews, I'd love to hear your opinion. Did you think it was amazing, or think it was the worst fanfiction you've ever read? I don't care just put it in the reviews, I love getting reviews! Now, as you could probably tell, I am a HUGE fan of Doctor Who. As this game had a time travel plot, and involved lost memories, I felt inspired to make a story similar to a Doctor Who plot. I won't spoil which series I based it off of (Though let's be honest, you could probably tell). So, every chapter, I feel like I should leave a Doctor Who quote at the end. Now, I would usually make it so it fits in context, but this time I'll just put an inspiring quote in this time.**

" **The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant."**

 **-The Doctor**


	8. Chapter 8 - The Beach

**Sorry for the massive delay. This is one of those chapters that I thought of back when I first started this story, so I wanted to make this chapter perfect. (Although I know this is still FAR from perfect, and I'm still not completely satisfied with it)**

 **EDIT: Added a flashback while Sparky was explaining his first memory.**

Chapter 8 – The Beach

 _Everything was black. The distorted sound of the ocean waves rung through the air, except now there was a distinct rumbling sound. Through all the sounds, Sparky could hear a distant sound of someone weeping. "This is the last time I'll ever be able to see you. From now on, I'll be living a life of hopelessness and fear. You'll never be able to talk to me. I'll just be frozen, standing on this beach through the entire lifetime of the universe. You'll be of the few to survive this. So I- no... Everyone in the universe will be depending on you. I'm sorry... I am leaving all the books you'd need to do your research here." The rumbling gradually grew louder as time went on. "Alright. Come here." The voice sounded like it was picking something up. There was a long pause in the voice. "There. Your last trace left in the universe."_

" _Wh-what? Last trace?" Sparky tried to ask, but no sound came out._

" _Let this serve as a reminder. Let this remind you why you're doing this." The rumbling now turned into an intense roar. "This world is dying. The whole universe is depending on you. I'm sorry... there isn't another way... Goodbye..." The voice took a deep breath as the deafening roar took over the rest of the sounds. Then, everything grew silent, except for what sounded like the cries of two children._

()()()()()

Sparky opened his eyes. He felt the soft feeling of sand on his back. The sky above them was completely black, with no signs of stars anywhere. He sat up, and saw that he was sitting on a familiar looking – but colorless – beach. _Where..._ he thought, _where am I?..._ he looked down to see everyone laying unconscious. "Wh-wha?! Hey... hey! Wake up!" Riolu groaned as he stood up. "Hey! You're awake!"

"Oh! Thank goodness you're ok!... Where are-" he paused.

"What?"

"Th-the... the beach..."

Sparky looked around. "Y-yeah... it's a beach. What about it?"

"Oh, Sparky, you need to look harder. It's THE beach!"

Sparky gazed out onto the frozen sea. He saw the dozens of suspended bubbles blown formerly by the frozen Krabby on the hills. "It... it's the beach back at Treasure Town! Except... in the future... Where it's all frozen..."

"Ugh... Urk..."

Sparky looked back to see Grovyle and Celebi waking up. "Hey! You're awake!" They ran over to them. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah... where are-" Grovyle paused.

"Wh-what? What's wrong?"

"I... I never thought I'd see this place again..."

"Wha- you know this place too?!" Riolu jumped in surprise.

"Yeah. This place is where I met Sparky."

"W-wait, you too?!"

"What do you mean?"

"This beach is where I met Sparky too!"

"Wh-what?! How?!"

"Well, I found Sparky here unconscious, with no memories." He pointed to the spot where he found Sparky. "Must be some coincidence that we BOTH met Sparky here."

"Yeah. So let me get this straight. You really have no idea what this place is?"

"It's… where I met Riolu."

"No! To us! What is this place to us?!"

"I… I don't know… What happened? What happened to me back then?" he asked, still astonished to learn that his mistaken enemy turned out to actually be his partner.

"… We were about to go into the Passage of Time, but we were in a hurry since Dusknoir was hot on our trails. You're not supposed to travel in the Passage of Time too hastily. I suppose that's what caused the accident. What is the first thing you physically remember?"

"Well… It's all a big blur… But I think… We were in some kind of storm…"

 _Lightning crashed deafeningly through Sparky's mind, the memories flooding back into his mind. The wind howled through the air, and it sounded as if the rain was vigorously tapping on some surface._

"...I heard two Pokemon, and it seemed like they were trying to hold onto each other..."

 _"I-it's slipping!" a voice rose out of the clamor._

 _"Hold on! Just a little longer!" The voice had suddenly become familiar to Sparky, realizing that it was Grovyle's voice._

"...but then, it sounded like a bump slipped them out of their grasps..."

 _The sounds grew more and more intense until one last bump slipped the two from their grasps. "Oh no!... Sparky!"_

"...Then… I just woke up on the beach! Just… Transformed into a Pokemon! As if my whole life was just… Erased."

"But it's not." Grovyle said, with a tiny sliver of hope in his voice.

"What?"

"You still remember that. That last time we were together. There's still hope to remember everything. Nothing is ever forgotten… Not completely. And if you dig deep enough, you can… Remember."

"But it's like everything in my life never even happened to me! How can I remember that? It's impossible!"

"… That never stopped you… C'mon… Dig deep, remember it… I know you can…"

Sparky looked around the colorless beach, until he saw what looked like another Pokemon standing on the beach. "Who's that?" He ran over to the Pokemon. It looked like a large reptile that had six balls on its back, and what looked like a large fern for a tail, and possessed a strong resemblance to Grovyle. Like all the other Pokemon, it was frozen and colorless. "That… That looks like you. Who is that?"

"Figure it out." Said Grovyle.

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Because if I just blatantly and outright TELL you, you won't remember anything else! You need to do this yourself!"

Sparky looked at the figure. _I know I've seen it before! But where?..._ He dug deep into his subconscious, and it seemed as if a deep fog was shrouding his past life. He tried to make the connections it had with him, and Grovyle, and their adventure. But finally, he made the connection. "It's… Him…"

"I'm sorry?"

"It's the Pokemon I heard in my dreams. I heard him make a couple speeches."

"Yes, but WHO is he?"

"He's-" he tried to dig deep, searching all around his memories. Finally, he remembered the figure was like a fatherly figure to them. _It's quite clearly Grovyle's father,_ he thought. "It's… Your father… Right?"

"… Yes."

"What?!" Riolu jumped in surprise.

"… And… The children in my dream-" Sparky started to ask.

"They were the two us, yes. We never got to talk to him, however, our whole lives, he's been frozen. He was only ever able to communicate with us through letters." He took out a crumpled up, colorless piece of paper. "This is the last one he wrote to us."

Sparky and Riolu read the letter. "It's the same words as in my last dream!"

"Yes. And… The last trace he was talking about… Was this." He pointed down at the sand.

"What? Footprints?" Riolu asked, confused. Down on the sand, were four tiny footprints.

"After the world froze, it got impossible to make footprints. These were our footprints when we were only little toddlers. I barely even remember making them."

"This… Is where we met Celebi too, right?"

"Right. We saw her here, unconscious. She had to escape from all the Pokemon that lashed out on her."

"What?" Riolu asked, confused, "Why would anyone attack Celebi like that?"

"It's a long story." He sighed, knowing that he had a lot to explain, "The reason time is dying… Is because of paradoxes."

"Para- what?"

"Paradoxes are complications in time. For instance, if someone travels back in time to his parents, and let's say he stops them from ever meeting. That'll prevent the time traveller from being born. If he was never born in the first place, he never would have travelled back in time to stop his parents from meeting, thus he WOULD be born, creating an infinite loop."

"But… Time travel… How is it even possible?"

"Celebi has a power to travel through time. It's supposed to be used wisely. Both Pokemon and humans alike get a hold of her, and they use her to create paradoxes."

"But… Why would they do that?"

"For various reasons, like destroying their enemies before they were born, or trigger a certain circumstance to make them rich. For each time someone creates a paradox, Temporal Tower gets weaker and weaker. Here, in the future, Temporal Tower already collapsed, and all of time is frozen. And it isn't only on our world where time is frozen. Everywhere in the universe, time is frozen. That's why there are no stars in the sky. Most Pokemon blamed Celebi for the paradoxes, and lashed out against her, so she fled to this beach."

"I was relieved when I found your father," Celebi said, "He seemed like the only Pokemon that saw me as an actual Pokemon, not as a tool for their selfish needs. He didn't even want to use time travel, he just wanted to take care of me. If only he did though… Then, he would be right here with us… but right now, we need to find a way to get back to the past."

"But the Passage of Time is shattered, how will we do that?"

"We can make a rudimentary Passage of Time, but we need a physical object with traces of time energy… Ah! The Time Gears!"

"But…" Riolu commented, "this is the future. All of time is frozen. What would the Time Gears here in the future do?"

"The world is paralyzed, but the Time Gears still have traces of time energy. We'll just take all five of them to make a primitive version of the Passage of Time."

"Could it be powerful enough to take us back to the past?" Grovyle asked.

"Yes, but we wouldn't know exactly what point in time it'll drop you in. You could travel too far into the past. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Riolu, would you mind coming with me to get the Time Gears? I think Grovyle and Sparky need some alone time."

"Wh-what?! But…" He looked at Grovyle and Sparky. _Well, it HAS been a long time since they saw each other,_ he thought. "Alright."

As Riolu and Celebi went to get the Time Gears, Sparky remained staring at the footprint.

"Well? Do you remember anything?" Grovyle asked. The familiar sensation was now stronger than ever.

"…I-I can't…"

Grovyle sighed. "If only you could remember. We had the best of adventures. To have all that torn away from you. How must that feel?" Then, an idea popped into his mind. He took out the slip of paper he found at the quicksand pit. _This is MY handwriting. But I didn't write it yet, which means I… Wrote it in the future!_ He handed the paper over to Sparky.

"Wh-wha?! How did you get that?" He searched behind his bow, where he thought he had left it.

"You must've dropped it. But what it says is true. 'Nothing is forgotten.' Our adventures-" he sighed, "Our adventures were too good to just forget. No one could forget it, no matter what happens to your mind. It's in your subconscious, I know it! You just need to dig deep."

Sparky stared down at the paper, trying to remember. It seemed that every second, he was unlocking a memory, only to find another lock behind it. He vaguely remembered having many adventures in time travel. One specific thing he thought he remembered is that Celebi told them that they were only observers, and that they should never get involved in the affairs of the Pokemon in history. _Except, I felt like that was someone else's story. As if I was reading a book! But, it has to be mine, right? But… I feel like a totally different person._ He told Grovyle about his subtle memory. "Well?" He asked. "Was I right?"

"… Yeah."

"But… It doesn't feel like I lived it. It feels like someone else's. Are you sure it was really me?"

"Of course! I know it was you! It has to be! All these connections with the human Sparky, it HAS to be you!"

Grovyle sighed as he looked at the reptilian figure. "His name was Sceptile. At least, that's what Celebi told us… I still wonder what he was like." Sparky looked at the figure more closely now. It had a pair of closed eyes, as if it was in pain. "I would give everything to bring him back. No one is going to stand in my way, not Dusknoir, or even Primal Dialga. Will you help?"

"Wh-wha?! Of course I will! Why wouldn't I?"

"But Riolu… I have a feeling he won't be able to trust me so easily."

"What? Why not?"

Grovyle was about to answer when they saw Celebi and Riolu returning with the Time Gears. The cogs were void of color, although there was a slight shade of green on them. "I saved these up in case of emergencies." Celebi said. "With these, you'll be able to travel to the past. But you can't just put them in Temporal Tower, they already lost most of their time energy, but they'll work as decoys." Celebi set the colorless gears in a particular arrangement on the sand. Suddenly, they started to glow, and a huge door of light rose from the center of the arrangement. A huge, boisterous noise rung through the air. Then, she picked up the Time Gears.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Riolu asked.

"I'm giving the Time Gears to you. Use them as decoys in case it sends you too far into the past."

"Wh- decoys? Why would we need decoys?"

"Grovyle from the past would want to have stolen the Time Gears. Except, that Grovyle failed in his mission. If you make him take the decoy Time Gears instead, then you three take the real Time Gears, the paradox shouldn't be too large, as long as you do it secretly, and no one realizes they were decoys." The three of them tried wrapping their heads around the idea, but decided that she probably knew what she was talking about. "Alright, you three, please don't fail in your mission this time!"

"You could come with us, Celebi." Grovyle said.

"Oh, I still have a responsibility of rebuilding the Passage of Time. I'm afraid I cannot come."

"Ok, then I promise, we will prevent this world from being paralyzed." He looked at Sparky and Riolu. "Are you ready?"

"… Yeah." Riolu replied.

"… Then let's go!" The three ran into the illuminated door, and a loud whoosh rung through the air as the door slowly closed behind them.

"Good luck!" Celebi shouted. She looked at Sceptile. "Good luck." Her voice lowered into quiet whisper.

 **One problem I had with the plot of the game is that Grovyle seems WAY too okay with the fact that his best friend has forgotten everything they had done together. So, I figured I'd make a fanfic remedying that problem. And I feel this quote surprisingly fits into this chapter, since Sparky is like a whole other person (or in this case, Pokemon) after the transformation.**

" **We all change, when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's okay, that's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be."**

 **-The Doctor. I miss you so much :'(**


	9. Chapter 9 - Limestone Cavern

**Right, this is another chapter I thought of at the beginning, so the plot is really speeding up! I don't think there are many chapters left though… :( And yes, this is where it gets really cliché, so if you wanna stop reading now, I don't blame you.**

 **Chapter 9 – Limestone Cavern**

The waves could be heard crashing on the sand. Foamy white bubbles formed on the beach as they quickly turned a sandy brown as it was sucked back into the vast ocean. One big wave eventually reached Sparky, the freezing water instantly urging him to jump up. "Wah! That is freezing!" He gazed around his surroundings to find himself back at the beach at Treasure Town. "W-we made it! Haha, we made it back!" His celebration was quickly interrupted when he looked down to see… "Wha… Is that…" He couldn't say more as he was too astonished to see another Cyndaquil lying unconscious on the sand! "Th-that can't be me, right?" He reluctantly reached his paw out to try to wake it up, until someone pulled him back.

"St-stop! Don't touch him!"

Sparky looked back to see Grovyle looking at the Cyndaquil. "Who is that?!"

"It's you!"

"Wh-what?! How can that be me?!"

"Didn't you pay attention to what Celebi said? We were sent back too far into the past!"

"Wh-wha?! So that's me in the past?!"

"Ugh… urk…" They looked back to see Riolu slowly opening his eyes.

"Riolu!" They both ran up to him.

"Where… are we?" He asked, his vision was still blurry from waking up.

"We made it! We made it back to the past!"

"R-really?!"

"There's just one problem, though…" he pointed down to the unconscious Sparky.

"Th-that's… You?!"

"Yes. Me in the past."

"And we NEED to get out of here. Fast." Grovyle said.

"W-wait! Why can't we wake him up? We could get everyone's help! Even everyone at the guild!"

Grovyle sighed. "I know you wanna see all your friends, but you can't. This isn't just any old history. It's your own PERSONAL history. You can't change it."

"Why not?!"

"Because it would create a paradox! It'll make Temporal Tower collapse even faster! And right now, that's the last thing we need. C'mon, we need to find a new place to hide." Grovyle pulled them onto the path to the right, until they saw the past Riolu sulking down the path. He saw the present Riolu staring straight at him. Luckily, the sun was directly behind the present Riolu, so he was a silhouette from the past Riolu's perspective.

"H-hello? Who's there?" He cautiously said.

Riolu almost answered, until Grovyle pulled him into a conveniently placed nearby bush. The past Riolu tried peering into the bush, until the Krabbys blowing their bubbles to the sea caught his attention. He looked back and sighed. "I was probably just imagining it. My mind is all over the place." He continued walking down to the beach. When Grovyle was completely certain he was a safe distance away, he let Sparky and Riolu out.

"That… That was… Weird. Every word he said… Was exactly what I remembered! So… That whole time… That shadow… Was me?"

"You saw a shadow? Do you remember only one of that event happening?" Grovyle asked, his voice grew into a serious, deep tone.

"Wh-what?!" Riolu asked, confused.

Grovyle sighed. "I'll explain later." He looked back at the past Riolu.

"Ah!" He yelped. "Is that… an unconscious Pokemon?" He ran to the past Sparky.

Grovyle looked at Riolu to see he was acting mesmerized at the scene. He rolled his eyes and pulled him along the path. "Do any of you know a place where we can hide?"

"I… I think I know a place. We'd need to walk through Treasure Town first."

"That's fine as long as we lay low."

()()()()()

The three walked onto a large precipice. "Here we are." Riolu said. "Sharpedo Bluff."

"This doesn't look like a really obscure place." Grovyle said, looking back at the path. The plaza was not very far down the path.

"No. But this is." Riolu pulled a bush out to reveal a staircase leading down to a cave in the cliff. "I used to live down here before joining the guild. No one ever finds this place."

"And you swear you never came back here?"

"I promise." He said as he stepped down the stairs. Down in the cliff was a rather spacious cave overlooking the expansive sea.

"Wow." Both Grovyle and Sparky gasped with amazement.

"Yeah, it's only one room, but I get quite the view from here." Riolu said as he was setting up a couple of extra hay beds and a fireplace. "Now. Explain. Why can't we get anyone's help?"

Grovyle pulled his eyes off the view. "Right. This is the past. Your past. You can't change it. That's why I asked you if you remember multiple events of that time. Like if you remembered seeing a shadow and not."

"What? Like at the same time?" Riolu asked to see Grovyle nodding. "N-no, I only remember one thing happening at that time."

"Good. If you remembered multiple events, we created a paradox. But this time, it seemed fine. But we have to be careful not to create another paradox. Which is why you can't contact anyone at the guild."

"Wh-what?!"

"I'm sorry. But we can't. Like I said, this is your own personal history. You can't change it for anything. It's going to be hard holding the urge back to see your friends after a long time, I know. But you need to hold the temptation back. Can you do that?"

"… Yeah… I think I can."

"Good. So, we need to be more stealthy in stealing the Time Gears this time. Especially since we have these." He took the bag out with the decoy Time Gears.

"So… When we take the other Time Gears…"

"We put these gears in place."

"But… Will it keep time running in those places?"

"… No. It won't."

"How can you be okay with that?!"

"It's necessary! Maybe it'll help them understand that something's wrong with Temporal Tower anyway."

"But time will FREEZE. All the Pokemon will be living in a state of fear! You can't just let that happen!"

"I can if its temporary! When we set the Time Gears in Temporal Tower, time will restore everywhere, remember?"

"… Fine." Riolu reluctantly agreed. "There's one thing though. If it freezes time in the area, then the past Grovyle coming to steal the Time Gears will see time frozen in those areas. Won't that create a paradox?"

"It's fine. The past me saw the places frozen at the time, and I thought that since Temporal Tower was collapsing, time would be frozen nonetheless. What we need to be careful of, though, is the ones YOU two have visited. Which was…?"

"At Fogbound Lake and Quicksand Cave?"

"Right. We have to steal those AFTER you two have visited those, since we don't want time to freeze before you two get there. THAT would create a paradox." The two tried wrapping their heads around his explaining, but figured that they'd just stick with his plan. "… Well, the first one I took was in Limestone Cavern, so I think we should do that one first. We should steal the gears right before my past self to make everyone suspect HIM of freezing time instead of us. Now there's only one Ditto guarding that one, it shouldn't be too hard to steal."

"Ok, but how do you know all this?"

"I did all the research in the future with the human Sparky. I know all there is to learn about the Time Gears."

"Alright, but I think we should take a rest now. Can we do it tomorrow?" Riolu yawned with the setting sun behind him.

"Fine. We'll pick it up tomorrow."

"You know, with the amount of time I spent unconscious, I feel surprisingly sleepy." He actually felt relieved to be sleeping on this scratchy, hay bed at long last.

"That's time travel for ya." Grovyle jokingly said, admitting he didn't completely understand the concept himself.

()()()()()

When he was sure that everyone was asleep, Riolu quietly stood up and crept through the town, onto the crossroads. He saw the past versions of him and Sparky walking past. He stood behind them, and stared straight at them. _Fight the urge._ He thought to himself. _Don't do it._ He nearly succumbed to the temptation until he swiftly ran back to the cave, not wanting to jeopardize their mission.

()()()()()

Early in the next morning, Grovyle shook Sparky and Riolu awake. "Hey. C'mon wake up. We've gotta go."

"Ugh, alright, alright!" Riolu groaned as he sat up. "At least he's not as bad as Loudred." He muttered to Sparky.

"The Limestone Cavern is located past the Southern Jungle and in a place called Boulder Quarry. It's only guardian is a Ditto, so don't trust any strangers who try to stop you from exploring the place. This Ditto is clever and sly. Don't let it fool you. And don't make it seem like you're there to steal a Time Gear. Is that clear?"

"Yep. Don't worry, this'll be easy!" Riolu said, trying to bring some levity in their adventure. _This may be important, but that doesn't mean we still can't have fun!_ He thought.

On the way out, they saw the past Sparky and Riolu walking down from the guild with a Bidoof. "Wah! Careful!" Riolu whispered, but it was nearly too late. The past Riolu was staring straight at him. He swiftly pulled the two of them into a nearby bush.

"Hm? Something wrong?" The Bidoof asked.

"Um, no I… just thought I saw something." The past Riolu continued walking, still looking back on himself.

When they were a safe distance away, the group dove out of the bush. "Nice quick actions pulling us into the bush." Grovyle commended Riolu.

"Heh. It was nothing." Riolu said, blushing slightly. "Oh, wait, I forgot something back at storage!" Riolu said, realizing he didn't pack any Oran Berries in the bag. "I'll go get it!" He dashed for the Kangaskhan Storage store.

"Be careful!" Grovyle yelled.

After some time, Riolu returned with several Oran Berries in his hands and he placed them in Sparky's bag. "Alright, let's go." They started walking on the path until they heard the past Riolu talking.

"Marill!" He said. "What's wrong?"

"I-I was just walking towards Mt. Bristle, until when I looked back, Drowsee and Azurill were gone! I-I'm really scared!"

"Don't worry, Marill! We'll catch that Drowzee, I promise! C'mon, Sparky!" Quickly, Grovyle pulled Sparky and Riolu back into the bush before their past selves could see them, and their past selves ran past.

Riolu jumped out. "I… It was our first real exploration at the guild together…" He stepped forward to follow, but looked back at Grovyle. He nodded and jumped back in the bush, and waited out until they were sure their past selves were a safe distance away.

()()()()()

They walked up to the entrance of the jungle. "Ok, the Boulder Quarry should be through here." Grovyle said.

"Ah, hello!" They turned to see a Bellossom walking towards them. Instantly, they knew something was wrong with this Pokemon. It had only black dots for eyes, with no light reflecting off it whatsoever.

"This is it. It's the Ditto." Grovyle whispered to them.

"A-are you sure?" Riolu asked. _Sure, there IS something wrong with it, but, it looks pretty real to me!_

"Are you an exploration team?" The "Bellossom" asked.

"Y-yes, we heard there was some treasure hidden in this jungle."

"Oh, well I'm afraid you won't find any treasure here. Countless other teams have tried, and each and every one of them have failed."

"Well, we'll just have to see for ourselves, then." Grovyle pushed past the "Bellosssom," and Sparky and Riolu followed close behind.

"I-it's useless!" It tried to discourage them. "You'll never find anything!"

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Grovyle said, using his Leaf Blade to cut through the dense shrubbery.

"Wow, that's some guardian." Riolu said, surprised the Ditto wasn't putting up much of a fight.

"Oh… Trust me… It gets worse."

()()()()()

After a couple hours of cutting through the thick jungle, they found themselves in a completely different environment, in a large mesa-like canyon.

"This is it… The Stone Quarry. Follow me. I know where the cave is." They were about to head into the quarry until they heard someone calling to them.

"Oh, hello!" They turned to see a Sentret bouncing on its tail towards them. Once again, it had the same eyes as the Bellossom. "You are an exploration team, right?"

This was getting exceedingly annoying to Grovyle now, having to pretend to not know what he was fighting with, but he rolled with it. "Yes we are." He calmly stated, "We figure there's some treasure in that cave."

"Oh, I'd turn back if I was you. I heard that dozens of other exploration teams have entered this quarry. But none have ever come back out." The "Sentret's" voice grew into an over-exaggerated "spooky" tone.

Grovyle nearly burst from his annoyance and anger, but held himself back. "Don't worry, we are professionals at this." He muttered through grated teeth and pushed past the Pokemon.

"That's what they all say." It said in a sort of mocking tone, causing Grovyle to roll his eyes. Riolu couldn't help but snicker to himself seeing Grovyle so annoyed.

They arrived at a fork in the path, splitting off into two paths. "Hmm…" Riolu said, rubbing his chin. "It could be down either one of these-"

"Don't bother." Grovyle interrupted him. "I know where it is." He walked toward the wall in between the fork in the path, and, surprisingly (and startlingly), he put his hand through the rock! From where his hand was in the rock, rays of blue light burst from where his hand was "touching" the rocks.

"Wh-whoa!" Riolu gasped in astonishment. "How did you know that was gonna happen?!"

"I told you, I've researched this place AND I've been here before!" He continued walking through the rocks. "C'mon! The Time Gear isn't too far!" His voice was still loud and coherent, despite being behind some "rocks."

Reluctantly, they crept towards the wall and walked through the rocks. "Whoa!" Riolu said, looking behind himself as he was walking through. "How is it doing that?!"

"I have no clue. Probably something that Ditto set up. C'mon, we're almost there!"

They arrived at a large room, with a large green treasure chest in the middle. "Woah… What is that?" Riolu stared at the chest.

"I-I don't know… Get back from it!"

"What? Why?"

"It could be a trap! Besides, we're here for the-" he stopped.

"What? We're here for the Time-" Grovyle pushed his hand onto his mouth.

Grovyle whispered into his ear. "That chest… Is the Ditto… Don't mention the - You know what – in front of it."

"What?! That's the Ditto?!" He looked at the chest, which, terrifyingly, grew some black eyes that stared straight at him. "Wah! I-it's alive!"

"It's the Ditto… just walk past it…" They sidestepped along the wall, keeping as far away from the chest as possible and ran when they got on the other side of it. "Hey… I can see it!"

Before they could run any farther, an Aerodactyl swept down and picked Riolu off the ground. "Wah! What is this?!" He looked up to see the stone bird, except… "It's the Ditto!" It then forcefully threw Riolu onto the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust. Then it flew back into the cave. "… It… Ran away…?" Riolu tried getting up.

Before they could think any further, they saw a small mound of dirt moving towards them. Then it popped out of the ground and hit Sparky up in the air, revealing itself as a Dugtrio. "Aah! It transformed again?!" Riolu yelled in terror. The Dugtrio then used Magnitude, and the tremor shook and bounced the whole cave, leaving falling pebbles from the ceiling. "Aah! We have to find some way of attacking it!"

The Dugtrio fled it's way back into the cave and returned as a Dragonair. "There's no way of predicting what Pokemon he'll transform into!" Grovyle said, dodging the Twister it had just sent his way, leaving it traveling on its path, forcefully hitting on the wall. The impact made some pebbles fall from the ceiling.

Riolu looked up to see a large crack on the ceiling, that was quickly growing larger with each tremor it feels. "Hey look!" He pointed up at the crack.

Grovyle saw what he was planning and got ready for the next Pokemon to jump out at him, which was a Masquerain which flew straight towards him, and just barely missed him. "Sparky!" Grovyle pointed at the crack. Sparky nodded and waited for just the perfect moment when the Masquerain was positioned at just the right spot, and he used Flame Wheel on the crack, releasing a whole pile of boulders and rocks, crushing the Masquerain under it.

Riolu winced seeing it being crushed. "Is it…"

Grovyle cautiously stepped towards the Pokemon. It had transformed back into its original form, where it had scratches and bruises all over it, and fell unconscious. "… It's fine…" Grovyle said as he tried pulling it out.

"What are you doing?!"

"I need to put it out of sight! I don't want me in the past seeing it!" He then let the Ditto gently down at the side of the path, obscured behind a boulder.

"Aren't you gonna help it?"

"That's not what's important now!" He started running towards the Time Gear.

"It's gonna be frozen in time! Don't you wanna make him not live in even more pain and agony in that time? Please… Help it..."

Grovyle stopped on his tracks and sighed. "Fine. But make it quick."

Sparky took out a Reviver Seed and Oran Berry and gave it to Riolu. He fed them both to the weak Ditto. "It's still unconscious," Grovyle said, "but it'll be fine."

"… Thank you. Maybe you DO have actual feelings after all." Riolu said sarcastically.

Grovyle rolled his eyes and ran over to the Time Gear. "Ok, get ready for a loud, screechy noise." They both covered their ears as Grovyle took the Time Gear and replaced it with the decoy. A loud groaning sound shook the whole cave, now with pebbles falling all around them.

"I-it's gonna collapse!" Riolu yelped in surprise. "We need to get out of here!"

"Don't worry. Time will stop. So will the collapsing rocks." From the gear's pedestal, a wave of monochromatic colors swept through the whole cave, leaving the collapsing boulders suspended in the air. Everything in the cave remained frozen, except for the three of them. "… We're done here." Grovyle started walking out of the cave.

Riolu stopped to see the Ditto. It lost its light purple color, and was still unconscious. "… I'm sorry…" Riolu dashed out, following Sparky and Grovyle out of the frozen cave.

()()()()()

Back at the bluff, Riolu laid awake, troubled by his thoughts. He still had so many questions, and the memory of seeing the guild frozen on that cliff, the Ditto being frozen in time, and the fact that Grovyle was actually Sparky's partner in the past sent a whole flurry of questions and emotions flowing through his mind. After a couple hours, Riolu got out of the bed and walked outside. The full moon shined a bright moonlight onto the world. He could hear the faint sound of the ocean behind him.

"Can't sleep?" The voice made Riolu jump. He turned to see Grovyle peeking out of the staircase.

"Yeah."

"… I'm guessing you have a lot of questions for me."

"Yeah. There was never the right time."

"Alright. Well, you can start asking now." Grovyle said, leaning on a nearby tree.

"You were really Sparky's partner before?" Grovyle nodded. "What was he like? Was he the same?" Riolu asked.

"Mostly. It seems you've done a good job taking care of him. But I bet you couldn't-" he stopped. _I shouldn't have said that._ He thought. _Oh, Arceus, I was trying to get on his good side!_

"You bet I couldn't… What?" Riolu was starting to get angry.

"… No, it's nothing."

"No, what? I don't want you keeping any secrets."

"The Dimensional Scream."

"The… What?"

"The Dimensional Scream. It's a vision triggered whenever Sparky touches an object. It shows either the past or future of that object."

"W-wait, what?! The vision? Sparky has those!" He thought back when Sparky touched Drowzee, or the Groudon statue. "You know what that is?"

Grovyle was surprised to hear that Sparky could use the ability. "Yes. It could only be triggered if Sparky has a trusted partner to stand by. I guess after he was sent back here, you served as that partner… I'm sorry. I accused you of your friendship, and I said you couldn't make Sparky do the Dimensional Scream, and that Sparky didn't trust you more than me… I insulted you... You really do make a great partner for Sparky. He's lucky to have you as a friend."

All anger against Grovyle suddenly disappeared. Before Riolu could answer, he saw the sun rising in front of him. "Wow… Look at that!" The rising sun emitted a wave of orange and blue light in to the black sky, and narrow slivers of light from the sun shined through the clouds.

"You know… The first time I came here, I was so amazed to actually see color for the first time. It only strengthened my resolve to stop the world's paralysis."

"I can't imagine living in a world like that. I mean, I usually dismiss beautiful views like this, but, this proves that… The things we normally take for granted in this world, are actually the most beautiful things."

"There's really nothing quite like the things you see… And Riolu… There's something else… I never got the chance to tell you…"

"What is it?"

"Back in the future, when we were surrounded by the Sableye, and the Passage of Time was broken. We all had given up, even me! But you… You refused to give up… Even when we were in that bleak situation, you were quick in your thoughts, and you got us out of there. Thank you."

"No… Thank you…"

"What?"

"The only reason I was quick like that was because I had everyone with me! Before all this… I was really a big coward. It was only really Sparky that gave me the courage to join the guild… Without him… I'd be nothing…"

At that line, a sudden look of realization dawned upon Grovyle's face, which soon turned to deep sorrow. "… What? What's wrong?" Riolu asked.

"… It's nothing…" _I can't tell him,_ he thought, _it'd devastate him… He'd learn in time._ He slowly sulked back down the cave.

 **Sorry for the short delay, I've actually finished this chapter for a while now, but there was just something about it that held me back from posting it. Maybe it was the fact that the crack on the ceiling was kinda a Deus ex machina, that solution really came out of nowhere. But now, I'm (kinda) proud with this one! Well, here's the chapterly quote from Doctor Who.**

" **I've seen many things, my friend. But you're right. Nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see."**

 **The Doctor**


	10. Chapter 10 - Torkoal

**Sorry for the delay, I had a really bad case of writer's block on this one.**

 **Chapter 10 – Torkoal**

"Hey, Sparky, wake up." Riolu shook Sparky awake.

"Ugh…" He groaned as he struggled to sit up, his muscles were aching. He found that this morning was particularly more difficult to get up from. _It's probably that impact from the Ditto I took yesterday,_ he thought. "Good morning."

"Good morning! Take a look at this!" He pointed to Grovyle's bed, which was empty except for a note. Riolu went over to pick it up and started reading it aloud.

"Good morning, you two," it read, "As you two have already noticed, I am away from town. I have gone ahead to Treeshroud Forest."

"Wh-what?! Why has he gone without us?!" Riolu asked.

"There is no guardian at Treeshroud Forest," the note continued, "so the Time Gear shouldn't be too difficult to take. And since you two have taken quite the beating yesterday, I've decided to go without you. That doesn't mean you two won't have to do anything though. I still want us to be efficient with our time. And, I wish I could have told you this directly, but… Riolu… You are the key to the Hidden Land."

"Wh-what?!" Riolu gasped in astonishment. "M-me?!"

"This is a mystery I'm sure you have been wondering about for a lot of time, but… Your Relic Fragment… Is the physical key to the Hidden Land."

"What?! My Relic Fragment?!"

"Before he was corrupted by the paradoxes, Dialga looked into every Pokemons' timestreams and looked for the Pokemon that would be the best individual to take the fragment. Someone who is pure of heart, and would never abuse power. And Riolu, he chose you for that role. He found that in your future, you have endured many struggles, but will have pulled through every single one of them courageously and fearlessly. With the help of other friends, you will have done things that other Pokemon can only dream of doing. That is why Dialga chose you."

Sparky looked at Riolu, who paused his reading and seemed to be holding back tears. But, he pulled through and continued.

"You have the key to the Hidden Land. The only problem is, we don't know where the door is. The way to the Hidden Land is still unknown, even for me. What I want for you to do today, is to research the way to get to the Hidden Land, by any means possible. But, you are NOT to talk to ANYONE you have seen in the past. No one in the guild, and ESPECIALLY not your past selves. Find someone you have never met, or VERY rarely speak to to help you. Good luck."

"Wh-what?! That's it?!" Riolu looked at Sparky. "Wow… That's a lot of information to dump on us in just one letter… So… We have to find a way to get to the Hidden Land! Except, we can't talk to anyone we know! We don't have any leads… Well, let's go try to find one." They stood up and walked out of the cave.

()()()()()

At the crossroads, the duo still tried thinking of Pokemon to start asking, until they saw their past selves walking down the hill.

"Ah! It's ourselves!" Riolu swiftly pulled Sparky into a nearby bush.

"C'mon Sparky, to the mysterious waterfall!" The past Riolu exclaimed. They started running down the path.

"It's that time when we were investigating the waterfall! Wow, it seems like it was just yesterday, doesn't it? Wait…" He paused, seeming to have gotten an idea. "At the Hot Spring! Torkoal, the town elder! He's gotta know something about the Hidden Land!... I wonder if it'll be ok to talk with him though…"

 _Well,_ Sparky thought, _we haven't talked to Torkoal since we went to the Hot Spring, so… It should be fine… Right?_ "We should go." Sparky said, "It IS our only lead right now, right?"

"Yeah, ok! Let's go, to the Hot Spring!"

()()()()()

It was incredibly humid and steamy at the Hot Spring, sweat already started to form on Sparky. They hid behind a rock, being concealed from everyone's sights. "Ok, we should wait until our past selves left to talk to Torkoal." They waited for a couple of hours until the sun was directly overhead. "I think it's about the right time for-" he was cut off to see a nearby geyser shoot up a column of steaming water, along with a couple of figures. "Hey, that's us!" Riolu stared as the two figures splashed down on the spring with a gigantic splash, drenching every Pokemon in the hot water.

"Woah!" Torkoal exclaimed in surprise. After a couple minutes, and a few mutters between the worried Pokemon, the two of them seemed to be waking up. "My goodness! Are you alright?!" Torkoal exclaimed.

"Wh-where are we?" The flustered Riolu looked at his surroundings, his vision seemed to still be blurry.

"Well, you're in the Hot Spring! You just shot of the geyser! Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah. Who are you?" He still seemed to be clearing from his dizziness.

"I'm Torkoal, Treasure Town's elder. You must be extremely exhausted, please, relax with us in the Hot Spring."

"Huh, the Hot Spring." He looked around. "I always wanted to visit here. I guess there's no time like the present! Thanks everyone!" Everyone started to calm down, knowing that their two visitors turned out to be ok.

"Wow," Riolu whispered, "it seems so long ago, yet so recent… Well, let's wait until they leave."

()()()()()

After a while, the past Riolu spoke up. "Well, it's about time we head back to the guild… I wouldn't imagine Chatot will be too happy to find we didn't bring anything back… But let's go!" They started to walk out of the spring. "Thanks everybody!" Everyone waved at them. They continued walking, and the past Riolu turned around to see the present Riolu, but they were luckily in the shadow of the rock, and the past Riolu didn't think much of it.

They both sighed in relief. "That was close! Ok… Let's wait a few more minutes." After a while, they started walking out behind the rock.

"Ah, it's you two again! Back so soon?"

"Um, yes, we have some questions to ask you." Riolu found it hard to hide the fact that he was a future version of himself.

"Well, what is it?"

"Um, well we want to know whether you know how to get to a place called the Hidden Land."

"The Hidden Land?"

"Do you know it?" Riolu asked, getting excited by his response to that name.

"Yes, that place is a subject of quite a legend… Well… let's see…" He started rubbing his chin. "I apologize, I can't seem to remember the story myself."

"Wh-what? You can't remember?!"

"I'm afraid my old mind is getting a little rusty in its memory, it can't remember everything at once."

Riolu started thinking until he had an idea. "Well… Maybe this could help jog your memory!" He handed his Relic Fragment over to him.

"My goodness! Th-this is…" The memories seemed to flood its way back into the elderly Pokemon's mind ."It's the key to the Hidden Land! How did you- no… You're the chosen one?!"

"Y-yes…" He found it was grew more difficult to keep the lie up, and decided to tell him. "Well… How do I explain this?..." So, in a mildly complicated way, as he didn't fully understand it himself, he tried explaining their adventures in the future, and their recent companionship with Grovyle. "I know this is hard to believe, especially since everyone doesn't know who the Time Gear thief is yet, but please, you have to believe us!"

"Well… what point do you have in lying to me anyway? You DO have this, so I doubt you're a particularly bad Pokemon…." He handed the Relic Fragment back to Riolu. "Alright I'll tell you what I know. And I must warn you it's not much, especially with my faulty memory."

"It's alright! Any bit of knowledge will help!"

"Well, all I know is that the Hidden Land is located in the middle of the ocean, and that you need a special Pokemon to bring you there. And that fragment of yours is the key to summoning that Pokemon. Unfortunately, I don't know where you should summon the Pokemon… or which Pokemon it is…"

"Wow, that's a ton of information, thanks Torkoal! Oh, and can you PLEASE not mention this to ANYONE?"

"Of course! I wish you two luck in saving the world."

"Thank you for the help!" They started walking back to their base.

"Glad to be of service!" He exclaimed back.

()()()()()

Back at the cave, the two of them found Grovyle setting up the fireplace. "Hey, Grovyle!"

"Ah, it's you two. Did you find any information on the Hidden Land?"

"Well…" He explained what he was told.

"Well, it's not much more than I already know, but at least I now know that it's in the middle of the ocean."

"Did you get the Time Gear?"

"Yep. It was a piece of cake. Well, we had a full day today, so tomorrow, we're going to… Fogbound Lake. For now, let's just get some rest."

"Right." They started to get comfortable on their beds, satisfied with their full day of work.

 **Well… It's not much, but I suppose it… Works? Right?... Ok, it's crap, but hey, I had Writer's Block, so that's what you'd expect. I guess that's what reviews are for, so if you have criticism, be sure to write it in the reviews! So, this Doctor Who quote was in the Time of the Doctor, in the poem in the Christmas cracker. This one just makes me tear up every time I hear it. I miss Matt Smith. :'(**

" **And now it's time for one last bow**

 **Like all your other selves**

 **Eleven's hour is over now**

 **The clock is striking twelve's."**

 **\- Eric Ritchie Jr.**


	11. Chapter 11 - Fogbound Lake

**So after like, what, a month and a half? (OMG, I am so sorry for this delay!) I finally come out with another chapter of this thing! Once again I had a writer's block on this chapter, so sorry for the massive delay (again). I just haven't been very motivated to write anything. With the combination of Writer's Block, then the finals sneaking up on me, and then more Writer's Block, the delay was gargantuan. Apologies for that. But I'll elaborate more at the end of the chapter, it's gonna be a long one.**

 **Chapter 11 – Fogbound Lake**

The sun was nearly coming out. Riolu sat up in his bed, thinking about the impossible situation he was in. _I'm actually in the past!_ The thought was still striking him as impossible, even after all this time. _I haven't seen everyone here in a long time, and yet I still can't speak to them. But Grovyle said to fight the urge, and he's right. What would even happen if I confronted my past self?_ His head started to ache trying to make sense of it. _But to be honest… I am quite curious…_

He heard Grovyle's groaning coming from behind him. "Ah, you're finally awake!"

"What were you doing up so early?"

"Just… Thinking…"

"Well, it's a good thing you're up so early. We'll need a lot of time to prepare. We'll need to go simultaneously with your past selves. We don't have to fight with anyone, just sneak past as you are fighting is fighting Uxie."

"And how would we do that?"

"I… Don't know yet. I always thought I would be fighting him, but I'd imagine that Uxie wouldn't be too pleased to see two groups of you in the same place and time. Let's just hope he'll be preoccupied with fighting you," he said. "Let's go to the crossroads to wait."

()()()()()

After waking up a groggy Sparky, they inconspicuously tried walking over to the crossroads, but unexpectedly, they saw the guild walking down the hill.

The past Riolu took sight of the present group and cautiously said, "Who's there?"

Acting on instinct, Riolu started stepping forward, but Grovyle fortunately pulled him into a nearby bush.

"What in Arceus's name do you think you're doing?!" Grovyle viciously snarled.

"I-I don't know! I was just… Acting on instinct!" He stammered in reply.

"You nearly jeopardized the-" he stopped whispering.

"What is-"

"Shut up! I hear them!"

"I… keep seeing this silhouette following me. It dove into this bush." The past Riolu said. Grovyle's mind was working at a million miles per hour. Out of instinct, he pulled them out of the bush, just as their past selves pulled the bush open. "Hmm… I guess it must be in my imagination." They walked past as the present group dove out of the shadows of the underbrush.

"Whew… That was too close!" Riolu said in relief.

"Tell me about it. You nearly jeopardized the mission!"

"I-I couldn't control myself! I don't know what I was doing!"

Grovyle sighed in frustration. "Fine, whatever. It's behind us now. Let's just keep moving." He said monotonously. They started walking on the path. A couple minutes of silence later, Grovyle said, "Wait. I need to do something. Stay here." He ran back along the path, leaving both Riolu and Sparky to stare at each other in confusion.

()()()()()

Back at the intersection, he walked up north up to the guild, and found the guild's gates sealed tightly shut. He walked around the tent, to the side, and used his Leaf Blade to cut through the flimsy tent.

He quickly stepped down the ladder to the lowest floor of the guild. "I just need to do this quickly, then get out." He said to himself. He walked around, looking for the members' rooms, until he found the room labeled with a sign that said: "Team Pokepals – Sparky and Riolu" and was engraved on a wooden sign. It was obviously still new. He walked into the cramped room, momentarily thought how the two of them could possibly sleep in such a small room, but tried focusing on his task at hand. He took out the note that he showed Sparky in the future. The words "Nothing is forgotten" was sloppily written on the note. _I don't care if this creates a paradox, I just need to need Sparky to_ _ **remember**_ _. Now… Which bed?_ He went on a whim and placed the note on the farthest bed from the door. _There. Now I just need to get out so they don't wonder what I'm-_

"So, this is what you were doing?" Grovyle jumped when he heard Riolu's voice.

He was surprised and angry that Riolu was spying on him, but calmed himself down. "I told you to stay there. Where's Sparky?"

"I told him to wait there."

"Now if only you would be that obedient." He started walking past Riolu to get back to the mission.

"You keep putting up this façade, trying to make us think you have no emotions, that this mission is the most important thing in the universe."

"It is." He insisted.

"But not to you. You say that sentimentality is useless, but there's another side to you." Grovyle thought back to remember if he said that, he could have sworn he didn't. "What did you do in there?"

"Go see for yourself." He continued walking, leaving Riolu behind.

Back outside the guild, Grovyle walked back out of the hole he made, until he heard Riolu's voice behind him. "You would risk making a paradox, just for that measly note? And you say that I'm too emotional!" Once again, Grovyle didn't remember saying that. "What did you think that would accomplish anyway? You knew it wouldn't work!"

He couldn't hold in his emotions any longer. "Well, what would you do if your best friend suddenly forgot everything you did together?!" A few seconds of silence rung through the air.

Riolu had a regretful look on his face. He tried imagining if Sparky forgot everything THEY did together. "I-I'm sorry… I… I wasn't thinking. I… Just placed this image of you in my head, a… feeling of distrust, ever since I heard of you. I thought you were just an emotionless machine. I'm sorry…"

"It's alright. Let's just put this behind us. Let's go."

()()()()()

The group finally arrived at Fogbound Lake when they saw Chatot standing by the Dungeon's entrance. They dove into the underbrush before he could see anything though. "So… Should we wait here?" Riolu whispered.

"Yes, until we see my past self walking in." He replied.

Just a few minutes after they arrived, the fog of the camp gradually dissipated. "We must have figured out the mystery of the Groudon statue now!" Riolu said.

"Hmm?" They heard Chatot say, "The fog… Disappeared? Amazing, one of them must've did it! Wigglytuff! Erm… Wigglytuff?" He looked beside him to find that the Pokemon had disappeared! "W-what?! He's gone?! I could've sworn he was standing right next to me eating a Perfect Apple!" He sighed in disappointment. "I'd better go look for him..." He ventured into the forest to look for Wigglytuff, leaving the group still hidden in the underbrush.

"Alright, let's go." Grovyle said as the group pushed themselves out of the cramped bush and headed into the forest. Because they had been there before, it was easy for them to find their way to the field. Riolu peered up at the newly uncovered cliff containing Fogbound Lake. _After all this time I spent in the future, I really appreciate this view more. I really forgot how beautiful this view was._ He thought. They finally arrived at the Steam Cave. "Your past selves should be ahead of us, so we should hurry." They nodded as they speed walked into the dungeon, until they found their past selves walking into the opening of the cave.

"Oh no, here it is," exclaimed Riolu, just remembering now the power and magnitude of the "Groudon's" voice, "cover your ears!"

"WHO ARE YOU?" The deafening and deep voice rung through the air, leaving the group to wince in pain, "NO ONE IS ALLOWED HERE."

"Who's there!?" The past Riolu exclaimed, startled, "Um, we are an exploration team, so we have come to explore Fogbound Lake."

"NO ONE IS ALLOWED ON FOGBOUND LAKE. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY. OR ELSE…" the voice threatened them.

"B-but… We just came to…"

"ENOUGH! IF YOU WILL NOT LEAVE," suddenly, the Groudon finally appeared. The sight of the intimidating beast still sent chills down Riolu's spine, even though he knew it was an illusion. "I WILL FORCE YOU TO LEAVE." The "Groudon" then intensely roared, shaking the ground, leaving pebbles falling from the ceiling. It then used its huge claws to slash at Sparky, sending him flying towards the wall. The sight of it still made Riolu cringe, Sparky slightly more (with good reason), but kept their task in mind. When the Groudon was turned to the side, and the past Riolu sped over to the past Sparky's aid, the group ran together straight behind Groudon, fortunately going by unnoticed.

They walked on to the rock outcropping, peered around, but realized that hiding here would be more tricky. There were no trees or bushes to hide in. "There's no place to hide," exclaimed Riolu, "we should just take the Time Gear!"

"No, I have a better idea! Grab on!" He dashed to the side and held his arm out. Sparky and Riolu was reluctant, but they looked back at the past battle, which seemed to be nearing its end. They grabbed his arm, and he quickly dug a hole in the ground and pulled them in, burying them underground, leaving a tiny hole slightly covered by a pebble for more secrecy.

"So this was a good idea, yeah?" Riolu muttered sarcastically, trying not to struggle too much in his cramped space. "Was this really necessary?"

"Well what did you think of? We were in a hurry!"

"Well, I dunno, maybe something more sensible! How do you know no one would find this hole?"

"It was our best choice!" Grovyle rebutted.

"Now, boys…" Sparky tried to reconcile them, until they heard footsteps coming closer. They grew silent, not even letting off a breath of air.

"Wow, so this is Fogbound Lake? What's that glow in the middle?" they heard the past Riolu's muffled voice, though it was still easily hearable.

"That... is a Time Gear."

"That's a Time Gear?!" Riolu asked, astonished.

"Yes. That is why I guard this lake. I'm sure you've heard of the other ones being stolen?

"Yeah… It's horrible that anyone would even consider stealing these precious objects…"

"You have gained my trust. Should you abuse this, I WILL erase all your memories of this place." As they were listening to this conversation, they didn't notice Grovyle gradually digging towards the lake.

"C'mon. We need to get to the Time Gear." He continued digging until he felt the soil getting damper, so he started digging off more to the side, hoping to reemerge from the ground to get a clear view of the Time Gear. After an overly extended amount of time, and when their voices grew more distant, he dug a small hole to the surface, and peered out. The whole guild was out there now, but none of them fortunately seemed to be noticing them, as they were busy gazing at the spectacle in front of them and was preparing to leave. But just to be safe, he dug up a mound of dirt for them to hide behind. "Alright. It's safe." Sparky and Riolu burst from under the ground, trying their hardest not to make too much noise when coughing the dirt from their throats. After some more waiting, they peered around the mound of dirt, and saw the guild already gone. "They must've left. We have to hurry. My past self is about to arrive. When I grab the Time Gear, just sprint the other way. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Just keep running like your life depends on it." They nodded at him when he slowly dived into the lake.

Each torturous second made Riolu more nervous and anxious, knowing that if they were caught, their mission could be over. Grovyle finally arrived at the Time Gear. It glowed with a luminous green light. Grovyle looked over to Uxie, who seemed to be meditating. He looked back at the duo, who were ready to start running. Swiftly, he snatched the Time Gear from its pedestal, replaced it with the colorless gear, and desperately tried to stroke his way through the water, hearing the deafening groaning from behind him. He dove under the water, knowing that Uxie was looking his way. He finally surfaced from the water and instantly started sprinting after them. He didn't look behind himself, knowing the risk was too big. The monochromatic colors washed over him, but he didn't think of it; the only thing in his mind at this very second was to _get out of there_ **.** He finally caught up to them, and they were at the top of the huge cliff Fogbound Lake was on. The lake's water was pouring down to the surface: their only inconspicuous way out of there.

"What I would give for one of us to know Waterfall right now…" Riolu grumbled.

Grovyle peered around, knowing that Uxie couldn't have been too far behind. He looked up at the full moon, trying to dig deep in his memories, trying to remember the position of the moon in his last visit, but he couldn't remember. "Ugh, c'mon!"

He pulled them back towards the Steam Cave. "Wh-what are you doing?! We're running straight back to Ux-"

"YOU! THERE YOU ARE. THIS WAS ALL YOUR DOING." He was interrupted by the Groudon's resounding voice. Riolu's heart just dropped, but he wondered why he was talking to them through the Groudon illusion. He turned to the side to see the Groudon glaring down at the past Grovyle. _Oh, thank Arceus!_ He thought, _Perfect timing!_ Grovyle pulled them inside the hole he made before.

"I didn't do this. This was inevitable." The past Grovyle said unemotionally. "It's the collapse of Temporal Tower. This was going to happen whether I came here or not."

"NONSENSE. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT."

He sighed. "Why do they never listen?..." He muttered under his breath. "Alright. If you don't move, I'm going to have to fight you. And don't bother with this Groudon illusion, I know who you really are, Uxie."

With that, the Groudon illusion instantly glowed a bright light, and Uxie appeared in its place. "How do you know who I am?"

"That doesn't matter. I don't have time for this. I NEED that Time Gear, and you are NOT going to stop me." They started their battle, but the present Grovyle managed to stealthily pull them out of the hole and back to the cave while Uxie was distracted.

"C'mon, no time to spectate, we have to get out of here!" Having narrowly – but successfully – stealing the Time Gear, they were finally relieved to have gotten another one out of the way.

Outside the Steam Cave, the whole landscape was still colorless. Riolu was still astonished to see how depressing the world looked without color, even the night's moonlight shined a beautiful and faint blue on the world. _But this is only temporary,_ he reassured himself, _Once we put these gears in Temporal Tower, this world will be prevented from ever happening._

()()()()()

Back at Treasure Town, they settled down back at the bluff after a long, exhilarating day. "Alright, we have three of the five Time Gears, just two more to go." Grovyle said, though he knew that the next Time Gears would be as difficult, if not more challenging than this one was.

"Thank Arceus. I'm not sure if my heart can take much more of this!" Riolu said, trying to bring a little levity back into the group. "But... I just realized something... This is when Dusknoir just got here... Wouldn't he be another obstacle?"

Grovyle sighed in annoyance. "Ugh. You're right. Um... Well, if I'm being completely honest, I'm not exactly sure how to deal with him..."

"Wh-what?! How do you not know how to deal with your nemesis?!"

"Well, excuse me! I didn't expect us to be sent back to the past!"

"Guys, guys!" Sparky tried calming them both down. "Don't worry! We'll think of something!"

"...Fine. We'd better... I just can't wait to punch that Pokemon in his three faces after lying to us..."

"See, at least you two have SOMETHING in common..." Sparky quipped, just noticing that the two Pokemon had more conflicts today than usual. _Hmm... did something happen between them?_ He thought, _Eh, I'm sure they're just in bad moods._ He sighed. "Look, let's just get some shuteye, a good night's rest should help our thinking." With that, the three tried getting comfortable on their hay beds, as they prepared for the days to come ahead of them.

* * *

 **Now, about that unmotivated part at the beginning, I just haven't felt very motivated to write more in this story (don't worry, I still plan to finish this thing off), because I felt that I just made a mistake that even the best fanfic writers have made at least once. I make every character perfect and flawless, which ironically makes them so much worse, and so much more unrealistic. The more I read more fanfics and watch more shows like Steven Universe and Harvey Beaks, I realized that most of every fanfic writer (including myself) writes every single one of their OCs and characters as flawless and perfect. All the OCs I've seen never make any mistakes. And the ones they do make are very trivial and don't even tell anything about their personalities. They don't need to fix them, and they don't impact them or anyone else in any way. Like for example, Pearl from Steven Universe grew f****** insane after Rose died and is a massive asshole to Greg. She kinda grows resentful of Steven, and makes so many problems for the group - like in Cry for Help and Space Race - but that just makes her feel so realistic. Amethyst has to cope with being a defective gem (sorry Amethyst) and deals with it by being a senseless and obnoxious (but funny as hell) clown to the whole group. And Garnet could have trouble… Well… Conveying emotion. I don't wanna spoil too much with her. And Steven, well, he's a kid. He could be naïve, but that's because he's still a kid. You're seeing the whole show from his point of view, and you learn things as he is learning them. He's unknowledgeable and naïve, but that makes him more realistic. But you see? Every character in that show is flawed, but that just makes them SO much better and SO much more realistic, and I feel that most fanfics (including my own) don't touch up on that and want to make their characters "their perfect little angels." So I guess I wrote too far into this story without giving my characters flaws, but it's pretty much too late to just up and suddenly start writing them now (I don't know if the things that happened in the beginning of this chapter count as mistakes, but it was kinda resolved in the same chapter, so it's not like it makes a difference anyway). I just rushed the story out, thinking that a clever concept automatically makes a good story, but that just isn't right. Writing is much, much, MUCH more complex. So there ya go. Writing tips from SpaRkofFiRe (Although, after watching NerdCubed's let's play of Sonic '06, I just realized that my story is DANGEROUSLY close to that plot. I REALLY don't want to be associated with anything from that godawful game).**

 **So, after that monstrosity of an author's note, I present to you possibly one of the funniest lines in Doctor Who! Now, this quote wouldn't really be funny if you don't hear it in the context of the episode, so I guess this just gives you another reason to watch the amazing Doctor Who. Seriously, just watch it. I just can't stress this enough, watch it. It's way better than this.**

" **I have gene-spliced myself for all nursing duties. I can produce magnificent quantities of lactic fluid!"**

 **Strax. Ah, I love this guy XD**


	12. Chapter 12 - Quicksand Cave

**Sorry for the HUGE delay, Writer's Block is a b****. But, as I have to repeatedly read the past chapters to further my writing, I've realized how utterly crap the earlier chapters were. Like, REALLY REALLY crap (I guess that's why there are practically no reviews after chapter 3, that's when it got from garbage to EXTREME garbage). I guess that played a factor into why I'm not that motivated to keep writing. But hey, I'm still pushing myself to continue this, no matter how much rubbish this story gets. But anyway, I'll stop insulting myself and keep writing.**

 **Chapter 12 – Quicksand Cave**

The thoughts of all the past few days flashed through Sparky's mind. From being forcibly pulled into an apocalyptic future, to finding that a dangerous fugitive was actually his longtime friend, then finally going on a mission to retrieve the Time Gears in the past, the very thought seeming to send chills down his spine before. _It was just a few days ago that everything was fine,_ he thought, _just going on some fun, carefree adventures with a newly found friend. Sure, there was that mystery about who I was, but lately, I felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster._

He has never had the time to really think about this big spike of activity, but it was on this particular morning that something was keeping him up. He just couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. It was then that he realized, the one thing that slipped past his mind the whole time he was here in the past: _Dusknoir._ The Pokemon that he trusted, that EVERYONE trusted, only to be betrayed and be sent on this whole mess in the first place. And it was on this day that they first met him. He remembered it like it was yesterday – being told that he was a famous explorer who worked _solo_? And that he just became famous _overnight?_

 _How could we be so stupidly blind?_ He thought in retrospect. He glanced over at Riolu, who seemed to be in deep slumber. He sighed to himself. _What am I doing? Why am I beating myself up like this? Riolu isn't worrying about any of this, so why should I?_ _I should just get back to sleep._ But no matter what, he couldn't bring himself to that feeling of relaxation. _Maybe I just need some time to walk around. I haven't just walked around in leisure in quite some time, by my own will._ He quietly stood up, as to not awaken either of the two Pokemon sleeping next to him and slowly stepped up the creaking stairs.

Outside at the plaza, all the shops were closed, with no other Pokemon in sight. The sun was still behind the horizon, the whole town was blanketed in an inky darkness. This darkness brought Sparky back to his experience in the future. _A perpetual night. I can't imagine having to live in that._ He slightly grinned, knowing that he forgot his whole life in that bleak future. A slight positive to his memory loss. His small bout of happiness though was cut off when he realized that Grovyle still remembers it all. And now he doesn't have Sparky to remember with him, to have someone who knows what they went through, living in the future. He looked up at the starry sky and sighed. _If only… If only I could just REMEMBER. For Grovyle's sake._

His thoughts were cut off however, when he saw the stars in the sky fading and the glow of the sunrise ahead of him. He wanted to marvel at the sight, but knew that the sunrise signaled the beginning of the day, and all the Pokemon would soon be returning to their shops for work. He quickly scampered back towards the bluff. While he spent the majority of his walk in deep thought, he smiled, knowing he was able to have some downtime.

* * *

Back at the bluff, Sparky stepped down the stairs to find Riolu and Grovyle finally up and awake. "Where have you been?" Grovyle asked, making his tone more accusatory than he intended.

"Just on a walk. I haven't had one of them in a while." He just realized his tone though, and reassured him. "Don't worry. No one saw me. It was early."

"Good. We have another day of work, at the Quicksand Cave."

"How are we gonna pull it off?" Riolu inquired, "It's only an amount of time before Sparky, um, Dusknoir, and I arrive at the desert."

Sparky noticed his wince as he said Dusknoir, but Grovyle seemed to be too groggy to realize. _Hmm… Maybe he's not as on top of this as I thought…_

"I would usually just go take it before the past group went there, but since you haven't time travelled yet at that time, I'll have to reconsider. We'll probably have to repeat the process as last time."

Riolu inaudibly sighed. _Ugh. I do NOT want to go through that experience again._ "But this time with – Dusknoir on the lookout as well." He still hesitated to say his name.

"Yes."

Grovyle's deadpan response made Sparky stifle a laugh, but seemed to aggravate Riolu even more. Sparky couldn't help notice Riolu's grouchy mood now. _What's gotten into him?_

"Fine. We went out quite early, so we should head out now. But we should bring something to help against the sandstorms. They're REALLY strong."

"Don't worry. I've brought some large leaves from that jungle at the Limestone Cave we could use as headcloths. Let's go."

* * *

The sandstorm at the desert wasn't as strong as Sparky remembered, and they soon arrived at the quicksand pits.

Riolu sighed in annoyance. "Ugh… I forgot about this part…"

"Suck it up." This response gained an annoyed look from Riolu. "No, literally suck it up. Take a deep breath. There's no air down there."

 _Smooth save,_ Sparky thought, as he himself took a deep breath.

"On 3." Grovyle commanded. "1. 2. 3!" He took a deep breath as they dove into the pit ahead of them, bits of the sand getting in their ears and nostrils.

A few seconds later, they fell violently on the pile of sand. "Ow! Ugh, that seemed to last longer than last time…"

"Deal with it." He received the same annoyed glance. "Ok, I don't have a witty save for that one. Let's just move on." Sparky really struggled to stifle his laugh this time, but managed to pull through.

Deeper in the cave, as they encountered more Pokemon to battle, Sparky noticed Riolu holding back on his attacks. _Odd,_ he remarked in his thoughts, _He's usually the most enthusiastic in battling. Now, he seems less motivated._

His thoughts were interrupted when Grovyle held out his arm to stop them. "Ok, through here is the guardian, Mespirit. We've got to be careful. Let's hang back until the past group comes. The only way to get to the lake is through here, so let's hide where we could see them." They nodded and hid behind a boulder. Sure enough, a few hours later, the group arrived, and both Sparky and Riolu winced at the sight of Dusknoir.

"Hey look!" The past Riolu exclaimed, "I see a lake up ahead!" They continued running.

They still stayed idle in their hiding spot, waiting for the perfect moment to strike; it never came. At least it didn't come until they heard the past Grovyle coming.

"It's now or never." Whispered Grovyle as he pulled the two out of the rock and ran ahead. Luckily, Mespirit seemed to be in deep meditation, likely when he was remembering the message Uxie sent to him, and the others had their backs turned. They ducked in cover behind a pile of rocks to the left and peered out. Grovyle didn't hesitate, however, as he pulled the two out of their cover.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Riolu whispered furiously, trying to wiggle out of his grasp.

"You remember what I did last time. We need to get there before I did, and before I threw down that Luminous Orb. Either you dive in with me, or you stay behind." He said quickly but sternly.

"I-uh-I-wh-" Riolu stammered in distress with all the pressure Grovyle was suddenly putting on them.

"We'll stay behind," Sparky continued for Riolu, "we'll just slow you down."

Grovyle nodded and quickly dove into the lake and swiftly swam up to the gear, not knowing that the past Grovyle and Dusknoir were starting to make their way to the gear also. Sparky and Riolu watched on, sweating with the tension of the scene before them. He arrived at the gear, still submerged under the water, and hoped to be hidden behind the massive glow the Time Gear was emitting. Just before the past Grovyle arrived at the gear, he quickly switched the gear with the decoy, leaving his past self to snatch the decoy instead. Without even looking back, he swam towards the shore, being deterred by the rumbling of the cave, and rocks falling from the ceiling above him. When he arrived back at the shore, they hid behind the pile of rocks again, and huddled together, as the wave of monochromatic colors washed over them, freezing the collapsing boulders above their heads.

They looked at their surroundings, and, when they realized they were alone, all collectively jumped up and started cheering. Even Riolu, who had been in a bad mood the whole day joined in on the celebration.

"We did it! We actually did it!" Sparky laughed in relief, "Phew! That was even more tense than the last time!"

"But we did it! Finally! W-we only have ONE more to go!" Riolu exclaimed.

Grovyle looked on to the future, realizing that their chances of succeeding were growing larger and larger. "Yep. Just one more."

* * *

After a long and communicative journey back home, seeing as the mood was livened by their recent victory, they saw the whole town was gathered at the plaza. "What's happening here?"

"Ugh… I remember this. It's when – Dusknoir LIED to us…" Riolu tried his best to filter out his anger and hatred in his voice.

"Well, the bluff's through here, we need to get through SOMEHOW."

"We can just wait 'til they're done…" Sparky stated, he was trying his best trying to push his experiences with Dusknoir to the back of his mind; he didn't want to think about him, especially after their victory.

"But I AM kind of curious. I mean, hey, maybe something he says may be useful."

"But I could just tell you!" Sparky said, trying to keep his voice lowered.

"Maybe you don't remember it all. C'mon, what's the worst that can happen? I promise we won't be caught."

"… Fine. But we're not staying for long." They stuck together as they scampered stealthily to a tent behind the gathering.

Not too long after, the guild arrived and Dusknoir started speaking. His speech remained largely uneventful, but Sparky and Riolu peered at Dusknoir with hate. It wasn't until Dusknoir started talking about the darkness of the future when something interesting happened.

"If all the Time Gears are stolen..." Dusknoir started, "then the planet will be completely paralyzed. There will be no sunrise, nor sunset. No rain, no clouds, just perpetual darkness. All Pokemon on this planet will freeze. They will be frozen in a state of total fear and in a feeling of hopelessness. That is why we must stop Grovyle. And if you are wondering how I know all this, and if I knew Grovyle before: that is because we are both from the future."

At that Sparky couldn't take it anymore: he had to intervene. He looked up at Grovyle. "He's lying! He was lying this whole time! I need to tell everyone!" He vigorously whispered.

"Don't you dare! This whole mission will have been for nothing if you go out there!"

He tried his best to resist, but he couldn't handle it anymore. He dove out of the tent, only to be quickly pulled back by Grovyle.

"Argh! Let me go!" His yells were muffled by Grovyle, who held his palm to his mouth. "I need to tell them! You can't just let this happen!"

"You can't!" He tried his best to hold down his voice, but was struggling. "You just have to let it happen! It's in the past. You can't change this, no matter what."

"But… They're right there!" His voice lowered to a loud whisper, but Grovyle kept his hand at his mouth. "If I could just tell them…"

"No! Ugh… Riolu, tell him." He remained silent. In fact, he remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, not even at Dusknoir's speech did he make a sound.

"Ugh, why can't I just tell-"

"Because it will create a paradox that will INSTANTLY END our mission!" He sighed in frustration. "Look. I know what he did to you was wrong. He lied to you! I know how that feels. And, just like you, he's the ONLY Pokemon in this world that I truly hate with my whole body. But even I know that it's NOT his fault."

"Wh-what?!" This time Riolu spoke up, prompting Grovyle to put his other hand to his mouth and peering out of the tent. "How can you say that? It's OBVIOUSLY his fault!"

"No it's not! He didn't choose to be like this! Not even Dialga chose to be like that! There was NO way to control it. It was the fault of all the Pokemon and people in the world who ABUSED time travel. And there will ALWAYS be bad people in the world, no matter what. I'm sure if Dusknoir and Dialga weren't affected by this mess, they would have done EVERYTHING in their power to stop them. But they couldn't. It's not their fault. Dialga turned primal JUST because of this disaster and Dusknoir's just his minion. He's just following orders. Don't take it personally. It's not his fault, he's just another gear in this machine. He can't control himself, okay? Just let it go."

They were struck silent by his monologue. "Why are you protecting him?" Sparky spoke first. "Don't you hate him?"

"I DO hate him. But not for, well, HIM exactly." He was having trouble thinking of the words. "I'm just stating the facts. He can't control Dialga, and he can't control himself. He just so happened to be like this because of this mess."

"… Alright," Sparky finally seemed to understand. "Fine."

"Good." He looked back out, the crowd seemed to have dispersed. He didn't hear anything useful after all, but he wasn't particularly listening as he was trying to restrain his partners. _Note to self:_ he thought, _Never let them see Dusknoir again._ "But let's not let this ruin our victory, we have only one gear left after all."

Sparky smiled. "Yeah. Just one more."

* * *

 **FINALLY! AFTER I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW LONG, I FINALLY FINISHED THIS F****** CHAPTER! Good God, it was really hard getting the inspiration to continue writing, but I finally did it. And fyi, it was the Steven Universe fanfic "Don't Even Bother" by GlassHawk that finally made me get off my butt and start writing. It's a good fanfic, go give it some love (Oh, that sounded wrong).**

 **But anyway, I was hesitating putting on that "Suck it up" gag here, it seemed a little mean-spirited, but realized there was almost no humor in the past however many chapters, so I thought there should be some comic relief. But finally… I finally finished this chapter… Ok… Bye…**

 **WAIT I ALMOST FORGOT THE DOCTOR WHO QUOTE WHOOPS. Ok, I can't really get many quotes from the show, seeing as I haven't seen it in a LONG time (I'm still furious with you, Netflix), but I'll see what I can pull out.**

 **Ok, so it's not a Doctor Who quote, but it IS a Steven Universe quote, I hope it'll be ok. But anyway it's a long one, so brace yourself.**

 **WARNING: SPOILERS FOR EP. 35 "LION 3: STRAIGHT TO VIDEO" IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, GO WATCH IT IT'S BRILLIANT.**

" **Isn't it remarkable, Steven? This world is full of so many possibilities. Each living thing has an entirely unique experience. The sights they see, the sounds they hear. The lives they live are so complicated... a-and so simple. I can't wait for you to join them. Steven, we can't both exist. I'm going to become half of you. And I need you to know that every moment you love being yourself, that's me, loving you and loving BEING you. Because you're going to be something extraordinary. You're going to be a human being."**

 **Rose Quartz**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for the delay (Seriously? Again?). Something really personal has happened so I had to attend to that. Sorry, life comes first. :P Another chapter is probably not gonna come out for awhile, since that personal thing is still going on. Seriously, sorry about this.**

 **Chapter 13**

Riolu opened his eyes. He hadn't even realized he'd gone to sleep, the past night was a gigantic blur to him. He looked to the other beds. Sparky seemed to be sleeping soundly, but Grovyle seemed to be absent. _Hm… I wonder where he went?_ He stepped up the stairs to see the sun was directly overhead. "Wha- it's noon already?! Man, I REALLY overslept!" He kept thinking and thought it was logical that Grovyle must have went to get the last Time Gear without them. _But… He wouldn't go without us, right?_ He kept thinking as he walked back down the stairs. It was just then that he noticed a note on Grovyle's bed. _How did I not notice that?_ He walked over and began to read it.

" _Hello, whomever may be reading this. I'm currently writing this because you two seemed to be in deep slumber. I didn't want to wake you, you two had an emotional evening yesterday. So I went to get the last Time Gear myself. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I could actually go and take the Time Gear before my past self, since you guys didn't go to the Crystal Cave. You guys deserve the rest. Especially Riolu, I noticed you weren't really enthusiastic to battle yesterday, so take a well-deserved rest."_

 _I wasn't 'enthusiastic to battle?'_ he thought, _I didn't realize that…_

" _Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be back before evening. See you soon."_

 _Hmm… Alright_ , _We'll just have to wait._ He thought as he lied back down on his bed. This downtime has caused him to start thinking. _Grovyle mentioned this 'Temporal Tower,' right? Hmm… How are we gonna get to this place? Well… Grovyle must've worked it out, right? I'm sure he's got everything under control._

So he waited for him to come back. Sparky woke up a few minutes later, and he explained the situation to him. Then hours passed. They were starting to grow worried as the sun nearly started setting. They DID have their map with them. They could find their way to the Crystal Cave to take matters into their own hands. His thought was quickly interrupted, however, when Grovyle came into the room, looking not at all tired and with a big grin plastered across his face.

* * *

"So, nothing bad happened, it just took longer to get through the dungeon than you expected?" Riolu asked, trying to get the story straight in his head.

"Yep. I was lucky I left early. I still arrived before my past self."

"That's great! So… How are we gonna get to this 'Temporal Tower?'" He inquired.

"Oh. I'm… Not sure yet."

"WHAT?!" He muffled his voice with his hand, knowing the town wasn't too far away. "DIDN'T YOU PLAN THIS OUT?!"

"I-I always assumed that if I found the Pokemon with the relic fragment, it would know where to go!"

"Well, I have it, and I OBVIOUSLY don't know where to go! So, I guess we're gonna have to get looking!"

"We can't waste another minute! We need to start searching NOW." The group nodded as they ran up the stairs to start their investigation.

* * *

As they walked towards the plaza, they heard the all too familiar ringing sound of the dimensional hole. The whole town was gathered, but Dusknoir wasn't at the front yet. Riolu knew what was coming, and every sound around him fell to an indistinct muffled static. He hadn't noticed he was pulled into cover by Grovyle; he hadn't even noticed Sparky being forcibly restrained by Grovyle from revealing themselves. All he was focusing on was Dusknoir walking alongside his minions and a tied up Grovyle.

He remembered Dusknoir's speech word for word, and he recited it mentally as Dusknoir commenced his monologue.

"Hello, everyone. I am happy to announce that our mission succeeded, and we have captured the thieving Grovyle!" He heard the torturous and blind cheers of the crowd. _How could they be so naïve?_ Riolu thought, _Don't they see the signs?_

"But… It is now time for us to return to the future." He heard the disappointed moans of the crowd, but Dusknoir carried on.

"I am sorry, but it is my duty to apprehend Grovyle in the right time." Dusknoir turned to one of the Sableye. "Push him in." Riolu visibly winced as one of his most trustworthy friends was shoved into the Arceus-forsaken portal. He found it nearly impossible to keep himself from diving out from his cover and slapping the Pokemon straight across the face. But he knew what was coming next. His mental recitation increased into low whispers as Dusknoir continued his speech.

"Now, I'm afraid I will never be coming back here. But in my last moment here, I would like to thank you all for assisting me in my mission. This is a dimensional hole. It allows me to travel through time. Before I go back to the future, I must see two Pokemon." He knew what was coming next. Every torturous second the moment was coming closer, and there was nothing he could do about it. "Team Pokepals!"

The next few seconds have all blurred together as Riolu visualized his experience of being pulled into the future on repeat. Dusknoir's harsh yelling though brought him back to reality.

"You two… Are coming with me!" Everything seemed to go in slow motion from that moment forward. Acting on instinct, Riolu dove out of the tent.

"S-STOP!"

* * *

Everyone was looking at Riolu, astonished that he was standing at two places at once. "Is that… Me?" The past Riolu's pupils dilated as he stared at what seemed to be himself standing right in front of him.

Grovyle was too busy restraining Sparky, he hadn't realized Riolu was upset. But there he was. Out there. In sight of everyone. And there was nothing he could do without being seen himself.

Riolu felt a churning sensation in his stomach and was getting lightheaded, but he didn't care. He didn't care that everyone was looking at him. He didn't care that he just jeopardized their mission. All that mattered to him was giving this _damn_ Pokemon what he had deserved from the beginning.

"You… You lied to us. To ALL of us!" He started treading over to Dusknoir, visibly struggling to lift his legs on each step. Dusknoir hovered, stunned at what he was seeing. "We trusted you. I ADMIRED YOU! AND WHAT DID YOU DO?! YOU SPAT IN MY FACE AND BETRAYED ALL OF US!" He started limping faster towards Dusknoir.

Grovyle, realizing what he was about to do, knew there was no point in hiding anymore, and dove out of the tent to pull Riolu back. "GROVYLE?!" The whole town gasped in surprise.

"Urgh… Let me go!" Riolu squirmed in Grovyle's arms, trying to slip his way out of his grasp, but he realized his strength was gradually draining.

"No! You can't touch him!"

"Why not?! He's right there! He betrayed us! We should give him what he deserves!"

"I told you! It's in the-"

"In the past, I know!" Riolu interrupted him, silencing him for the time being. "What does it matter?!"

"The para-"

"Who cares about the damn paradoxes?! No matter what, we should give the Pokemon in the world like _him_ what he damn well deserves, and that's what I was about to do!"

"That's not my only point. This is all in the past. You can't obsess over something like this that you can't change. I know you wish this couldn't have happened, but it did. And you can't change it, no matter what. It's in the past. You mourn, but you live."

His words seemed to fall on deaf ears though, as his voice only seemed to aggravate Riolu anymore. "But he's right _there_! He's tangible, I can touch him! Why can't I do anything?!" He turned around and started trembling. "…what he has done to us… To all of us… Don't you think we should give him what he _DESERVES?!_ " He snapped, making everyone jump.

"You're being completely immature! You can't change the past, no matter how hard you wish, there's nothing you can do to change it!" Grovyle sighed. "This is NOT what the Pokemon with the relic fragment is supposed to be. Someone who doesn't have restraint, someone who would risk the world for your own needs. Right now, you're just as bad as all the Pokemon who started this whole thing. Why are YOU the one with the relic fragment?"

Riolu grasped the relic fragment in his hands and ripped it off his neck. "It doesn't matter! We just need to give him what he _DESERVES_!" Riolu yelled in frustration and stomped over to Dusknoir.

"No, wait- stop!" He raises his hand up to stop him, but he was too slow; Riolu already shoved Dusknoir into the hole, his scream echoing through the air.

Everyone remained silent. Gradually, the hole seemed to be shrinking in radius; the hole was closing.

At that moment, Riolu's began to feel even more dizzy, and much to everyone's surprise, he and Sparky started to glow! He found that lifting his legs was becoming a challenge as the light gradually enveloped him. "Wh-what's happening?!"

"It's the paradox! If you never went into the future, you never would have existed!..." Grovyle had to think quickly. He knew there was nothing he could do to reverse the paradox, but he could lessen the severity of it. But how?... And then he realized. He ran over to the past Sparky and Riolu and picked them up and brought them over to the dimensional hole.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing?!" Riolu ran over to try to stop him.

"Sparky, do you trust me?"

"… Wh-wh-what?"

"Just answer the question!"

Sparky just realized what he was doing and sighed. "With my life." That response seemed to surprise the past Sparky.

"And Riolu. Do you trust me?"

"Wh-what- I-I…" He closed his eyes and looked down at the floor. He knew that Grovyle had a better judgement than him, and what he was doing made logical sense. Everything he did, he did for his mission. He admired that in him, Grovyle's determination, his perseverance through all he has suffered in his life. He knew he could trust Grovyle. "Yes. Of course I trust you." was all he could manage to say.

Grovyle's returned his attention to the Pokemon in his arms. "Now I know that you two don't know who I am yet. But just know that if you just give me a chance, you _will_ come to trust me, and I will trust you. What I have done will seem like the most evil sin ever committed, but trust me when I say that I had a reason for it."

"Th-then why?! What _is_ the reason?!" The past Riolu yelled, for the first time this whole time.

"I can't tell you that yet. You'll have to ask the past me." He turned his attention to Riolu. "Right?"

"… Right…"

Grovyle's sighed and looked down. "I'm sorry that I have to do this to you…" He looked back at Sparky and Riolu, who both nodded in consent, and both winced at what he was about to do. "I'm sorry…" He closed his eyes and threw them into the dimensional hole, their screaming echoing through the air as the hole finally closed. He hadn't known if everything would have stayed the same, the only thing he could do was to hope.

He walked over to the relic fragment lying on the floor and picked it up. He walked over to Riolu and tied it around his neck. "Now prove to me why _you_ have this relic fragment."

 **Ooh, that was pretty cool! I mean, it's not great, but still pretty cool! Right. Some announcements. So there is obviously gonna be an alternate timeline. It's up to you guys whether you want to see that alternate timeline or not. Me? Eh, I'm more towards writing it, but if you guys wanna choose, go ahead and leave a review.**

 **And since I've become less motivated to write this story, I've been working on another story behind the scenes! And I plan to actually write this whole story first, so yay for a consistent schedule! But that's all I'm gonna say about it for now. I'm gonna go now. BYE.**

 **(Also, no DW or SU quote this time because I'm lazy)**


End file.
